Politico and Axel Springer have acquired Brussels-based European Voice and will relaunch the publication as Politico next year, the company announced Wednesday.
The acquisition is the latest step in Politico’s plan, announced in September, to expand into Europe. Politico and Axel Springer, which are equal partners in the venture, said the new venture would offer “in-depth coverage of European politics and policy.”
The purchase of European Voice affords Politico “instant talent and presence in Brussels ─ and an attractive subscriber base in the EU Parliament,” Politico President and CEO Jim VandeHei writes in a memo to staff.
The launch will transplant many staples of Politico’s current business model to Europe; it will include the release of a new website, Politico.eu, a weekly newspaper in Brussels, a series of events and conferences and a European edition of Politico Pro.
Matthew Kaminski, a member of the Wall Street Journal editorial board, will be the publication’s executive editor, reporting to editor-in-chief John Harris, according to Politico. Shéhérazade Semsar-de Boisséson, the owner and publisher of European Voice, will be Politico’s European managing director.
Here’s the staff memo from VandeHei:
BRUSSELS ─ We just announced important new dimensions to our POLITICO Europe expansion: We purchased one of our would-be competitors ─ Brussels-based European Voice and its sister events business, Dii, in Paris ─ and named our senior leadership team here.
I wanted to explain to all of you the thinking behind these moves and introduce to you some new members of the POLITICO family.
At a press conference here with our partner Axel Springer, we just explained to more than 300 journalists, politicians and others that in early 2015 European Voice will go away ─ and in its place will rise a transcontinental publication covering the politics, policies and personalities in the EU and the continent’s most powerful nations.
This will be POLITICO Europe ─ and it will launch in spring of next year. We did a briefing for German press Tuesday night and officially unveiled the details at a large event here just now.
EV has a strong presence in Brussels and a remarkable leader, Shéhérazade Semsar-de Boisséson, who will serve as managing director and run our new joint venture. More on her in a minute.
This purchase provides us instant talent and presence in Brussels ─ and an attractive subscriber base in the EU Parliament. We also purchased Dii, a leading Paris-based events business, which will allow us to rapidly expand our fast-growing live conferences and events efforts globally. As I explained earlier, our European operation has the same ambitions as all of us here: dominate coverage of our core areas and build a durable and profitable business to sustain great, nonpartisan journalism. Our European operation will have its own website, weekly newspaper, subscription service and Playbook. And we have several twists designed specifically for this unique market.
The joint venture is making a substantial investment in year one alone, underscoring Publisher Robert Allbritton’s confidence in this project and our partnership with Axel Springer, the largest media company in Europe.
We are exceptionally well positioned to pull this off ─ in large part because of the killer team we are building. This team, which will grow to 70 or more by launch, includes a number of new recruits and a few familiar faces:
The news operation will be led by Executive Editor MATTHEW KAMINSKI, a veteran journalist and commentator on international affairs with The Wall Street Journal, who covered European politics for 15 years and will return to Brussels in early 2015 with his wife and two kids. Matt will report directly to JOHN HARRIS, who will expand his role as editor-in-chief and become chairman of the joint venture’s editorial committee. Harris will be a regular presence in Brussels, overseeing the editorial vision and execution. Also joining the newsroom will be BILL NICHOLS, who will be founding editor at large, and CARRIE BUDOFF BROWN, who will become associate editor and senior policy reporter. FLORIAN EDER of Axel Springer-owned Die Welt will join as a managing editor.
Leading the joint venture’s business operations will be SHÉHÉRAZADE SEMSAR-DE BOISSÉSON. At age 23, Shéhérazade founded Dii and grew it into France’s leading event promoter in the public affairs space. In 2013, she acquired European Voice from The Economist. She is a remarkable leader and exactly the right person to lead our European expansion. STÉPHANE BAUDOIN, Shéhérazade’s business partner over the past 20 years, will remain in Paris as managing director of the events business as it expands into new European and global markets. Our own GABE BROTMAN will oversee the joint venture’s strategy and business development.
We are about to go on a hiring spree with the aim of locking up the top editorial and business talent in Europe. DANIELLE JONES, who is helping guide expansion for us back here, plans to keep all of you informed on every important new hire or dimension to our expansion.
Here are links to the press release and the current European Voice website.
Thank you for all of your hard work and commitment.
