Munich / Zurich, September 23, 2015 – Switzerland-based Publicitas AG, an AURELIUS Group company (ISIN DE000A0JK2A8), has sold its Cinema Advertising Marketing business unit. The sale of Publicitas Cinecom AG to Weischer Beteiligungs GmbH is part of the strategy implemented by Publicitas to focus on its core activities in print and online advertising marketing. AURELIUS is delighted to have found a competent strategic buyer for the Swiss cinema marketing activity of Publicitas in the form of Werbeweischer. The two parties have agreed not to reveal any details of the transaction.

One year after AURELIUS acquired Publicitas, the new focusing strategy is yielding considerable success. After several years of heavy losses, AURELIUS has succeeded in significantly improving the company’s profitability. The Cinema Advertising Marketing business unit has increasingly proved to be too complex and cost-intensive for a broad-based advertising marketer like Publicitas. “I’m really pleased with the performance of our Publicitas subsidiary,” comments Gert Purkert, Executive Board member of AURELIUS and responsible for Publicitas. “The potential inherent in the company together with the growth prospects in the market for outsourcing services among advertisers, media agencies, and media partners are very good.”

Publicitas has invested heavily in its Digital and Print business units over recent months. The focus has been on expanding the self-service tools for agencies and advertisers and automating the settlement processes. The strategic objective is to achieve the optimum combination of cost leadership and top sales competence. “The sale of our cinema activity enables us to continue investing specifically in our core print and online operations,” comments Publicitas CEO Christoph Marty. “We’ve already taken the first steps with the acquisition of xentive SA, the development of the new booking platform, and the expansion of the digital team. Werbeweischer offers very good prospects for our staff and the cinema market alike, and is ready to invest to enhance the various offerings.”