10th Jan 2012 07:00
10 January 2012
UBM plc and Roularta Media Group form Belgian medical print journal joint venture business
UBM plc today announces that it has contributed its Belgian medical print activities to a joint venture with Roularta Media Group (ROU), the Euronext Brussels-listed media group.
UBM Medica and Roularta have merged their respective Belgian professional medical print businesses into ActuaMedica, a 50:50 joint venture company. The staff and assets relating to UBM Medica's print and digital titles (Journal du Medecin / Arksenkrant, Belgium Oncology News and Le Magazine du Pharmacien / Apothekers magazine) and Roularta's print and digital titles (De Huisarts / Le Generaliste, De Specialisten / Les Specialistes, De Apotheker / Le Pharmacien and De Tandards / Le Denttiste) will be combined. The Prescription pads business of both companies will also be combined and the joint venture company will retain the rights to publish the Medex directory under licence. It will be headquartered in Roularta's offices in Brussels.
ActuaMedica will be the market-leading provider of media-based marketing services for Belgian healthcare professionals. UBM remains committed to the Belgium medical market through its continued 100% ownership of its digital data businesses in Belgium (Medibridge and drug information systems), as well as its 50% equity interest in ActuaMedica.
Henry Elkington, CEO of UBM Medica said:
"By merging our Belgian media assets with Roularta we are creating the leading marketing services player in the local market and will be able to offer our clients unparalleled access and reach to healthcare professionals. ActuaMedica is well placed to prosper in both print and digital as the media market evolves. In parallel we will continue to to build our wholly-owned Belgian data business as part of our UBM Medica EMEA operations."
- Ends - ContactsMedia Peter Bancroft Director of Communications E-mail [email protected] Direct telephone +44 20 7921 5961 Chris Barrie Citigate Dewe Rogerson E-mail [email protected] Direct telephone +44 20 7282 2943 Mobile +44 796 872 72 89 Analysts/Investors James O'Shaughnessey Investor Relations Manager Email [email protected] Direct telephone +44 20 7921 5095 Notes to Editors1. About UBM plc
UBM plc is a leading global business media company. We inform markets and bring the world's buyers and sellers together at events, online, in print and provide them with the information they need to do business successfully. We focus on serving professional commercial communities, from doctors to game developers, from journalists to jewellery traders, from farmers to pharmacists around the world. Our 6,000 staff in more than 30 countries are organised into specialist teams that serve these communities, helping them to do business and their markets to work effectively and efficiently.
For more information, go to www.ubm.com
2. About Roularta Media Group
Roularta Media Group is listed on Euronext Brussels and trades under the stock code ROU.
For more information, go to www.roularta.be
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