Mediahuis invests €5m in Dutch training company
INDEPENDENT News & Media (INM) owner Mediahuis has invested €5m in Lepaya, a Dutch company specialising in the provision of soft skills training.
Set up two years ago, Lepaya provides courses in a number of areas, including communication, time management, and staff coaching. It provides both online and classroom training sessions.
The funding will enable the Dutch scale-up to accelerate its growth – both in the Netherlands and internationally – and further develop Lepaya’s range of courses and technology.
The investment signifies a new step in the Belgian-headquartered media group’s diversification strategy. Alongside its core news activities, this strategy includes focusing on new growth markets and business models, therefore broadening the development potential of the group, a statement from the company said.
Gert Ysebaert, CEO of Mediahuis Group, said: “The training market not only offers attractive prospects and opportunities for growth, it also fits in with Mediahuis’s mission, particularly providing information independently, thereby making a positive contribution to society.”
“Specifically in terms of soft skills, today we can only see their importance increasing. Particularly in times when physical contact between staff is decreasing sharply, these social skills and developing them are becoming ever more important,” Mr Ysebaert said.
Established in 2013 as a joint venture between Belgian publishing groups Corelio and Concentra, Mediahuis is now one of the leading media groups in Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, and Ireland.
The company acquired INM for €145.6m last year. Its titles here include Independent.ie, the Irish Independent, ‘Sunday Independent’, ‘Sunday World’ and regional papers including the ‘Kerryman’. It also owns the ‘Belfast Telegraph’ in
Northern Ireland.
Earlier this year the company expanded into the Luxembourg market with the purchase of the media group Saint-Paul Luxembourg.
Mediahuis Group last year had combined revenue of €857.9m, up 39pc on 2018. The results included five months of Irish sales.
Recurring earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (r-ebitda) were €118.9m.
In Belgium, Mediahuis owns ‘De Standaard’ and it publishes ‘NRC Handelsblad’ and ‘De Telegraaf ’ in the Netherlands.