Monday, June 8, 2009

Ifra, WAN mulling merger

Ifra and the World Association of Newspapers will merge into a single organization called WAN-Ifra, News & Tech has learned.
The WAN board has already approved the combination while Ifra’s board is scheduled to vote on the proposal June 25, sources told News & Tech.
Under terms of the merger, WAN would maintain its offices in Paris while Ifra would remain in Darmstadt, Germany. Editorial and other operations would be administered in Paris while research, consulting and training will continue to be overseen by the Darmstadt facility.
WAN Chief Operating Officer Timothy Balding and Ifra CEO Reiner Mittelbach are expected to remain in their current posts through 2009, but the new organization will seek a permanent CEO next year.
The proposal to merge the two international newspaper groups comes as Ifra split its operations into two legal halves in order to satisfy German tax laws and EU regulations governing research grants.
This is the second time WAN and Ifra have talked merger. An earlier effort, in 2005, was called off for unspecified reasons.

No comments:

Post a Comment