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overview
holdings
chronology
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overview
Copenhagen-based
Egmont
is the second-largest book publisher in Scandinavia, the
largest publisher of children's books in Europe and has
substantial film and magazine interests. It operates in
26 countries, with around 4,500 employees. Revenue in
2000 was US$1.1 billion, with a profit of US$33.2 million
(less than some media moguls lose in gambling each year).
It is owned by a charitable foundation.
the group
Egmont dates from 1878 when young Egmont Petersen's
widowed mother nobly pawned "all her worldly goods:
her rocking chair, oil lamp, four saucepans - and her
precious sewing machine" to fund his printing business.
His Gutenberghus group - renamed Egmont in 1992 - expanded
from printing and magazine publishing into cinema advertising
and book publishing. Much of the growth was fuelled by
comic publishing - Gutenberghus gained the licence for
Disney comics in Germany and other countries after the
1939-45 War. In 1992 it merged with the Nordisk
Film group.
Egmont now comprises around 110 companies operating in
Europe, Israel and Asia. Electronic assets generate around
40% of the group's revenue. Like most of its Nordic counterparts
it appears to be cautiously expanding out of saturated
local markets but hasn't established a substantial presence
in the rest of Europe (with the exception of publishing
in the UK and Germany) or seized the big money in North
America. Like Bertelsmann
its ownership by a foundation may inhibit future expansion.
The major areas of operation are -
book
publishing - competing with Bonnier
for dominance of the Scandinavian over-17 market and
having the largest share of the under-17 book market
in Europe
magazines and comics - family and special interest magazines
in the Nordic countries (competing with Sanoma
and Bonnier, comics and kids magazines across Europe
and Asia
film distribution and exhibition - cinema operations
and distribution (notably partnership with Columbia
TriStar) in Scandinavia
games - production of board games and electronic games,
and distribution of Sony PlayStation
film and video production and postproduction in Scandinavia,
including animation studios and equipment rental services
broadcasting - minority interests in television stations
in Sweden, Finland and Norway
It
also operates cinema advertising and newspaper/magazine
insert services.
studies
There are no major English-language studies of Petersen,
the Gutenberghus group or Egmont. The Egmont corporate
site offers Flash-rich annual reports and other information.
next
page (Egmont holdings)
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