Würzburg/Germany, 25 May 2007

In order to be better equipped to meet the enormous challenges posed by a sector which is constantly undergoing major changes, the three leading media companies based in the region of the German town of Würzburg have taken unusual steps along a new path: together they are currently founding WüMA (Würzburg Media Academy) which – over the next few years – they intend to establish as and expand into a central training & further training base for Vogel Business Media, the Main-Post media group and the Robert Krick publishing company – which are the three founding companies.

Claus Wüstenhagen, speaking on behalf of Vogel Business Media’s management, used the following metaphor to describe the new academy at the press conference held at Vogel on Friday at which its foundation was announced: „One could say we are leaving behind our separate little ‚garden allotments‘ in order to tend a larger-scale, multi-faceted facility for nurturing our junior staff members“. By joining forces in this project, the three media companies are opening up the possibility for WüMA trainees to become acquainted with an unusually broad product portfolio in the media business world. The range of activities covered by the three different companies stretch from specialist media through to daily newspapers, from printed media through to IT services operating on a national scale, from index lists and directories through to book publishing, and from a local media logistics service-provider through to a magazine publisher with international operations. This wide range is thus reflected in the diversity of the training content which the academy will offer its trainees.

At the same time, by pooling their financial and logistical resources, the companies will be able to provide much better training and always keep it geared towards the sector’s current requirements. It is intended that the academy’s curricula shall constantly undergo further development in consultation with the Würzburg-Schweinefurt Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

As announced at the press conference, in this way the three Würzburg-based media companies are equipping themselves for future competition on the job market. Thanks to the broad range of joint future activities, they intend to ensure that the Würzburg region keeps up with other German cities in attracting qualified staff in the future.

It was announced at Friday’s press conference that the Würzburg Media Academy will not only serve as a training & further training centre for the companies‘ own junior staff members but will also be open to third parties. The two printing companies, Stürtz and Vogel-Druck, were therefore also involved when the conceptual design of the training academy was discussed in preliminary talks. The managing directors of these two companies have said that they would like to use WüMA’s training facilities to back up their own corporate training scheme and that they will be at its disposal as regards qualification measures.

WüMA will be recruiting and starting to instruct its first trainees in the late summer of this year. With effect from the coming year, step by step it will ultimately take over the training of staff on behalf of the three founding member companies.

Information about WüMA’s founding shareholders:

a.) The Main-Post media group, with some 900 employees in total, publishes five different daily newspapers with a circulation of 145,000 copies sold, a weekly newspaper, seven advertising journals, as well as a variety of magazines in the Mainfranken region of Germany. The company, which belongs to the Stuttgart-based Georg von Holtzbrinck publishing group, is also involved in the following business sectors: online, mail logistics, addressed delivery, direct distribution, customer services, offset printing and the pre-press sector.

b.) The Krick corporate group based in Eibelstadt, Germany, has 450 indoor and field staff members and operates on a national scale in Germany. Krick provides local information services in print, on the internet and for mobile end devices. The publishing company also provides sources of information in the form of specialist publications specifically for people choosing a career and for potential students. Krick rounds off its portfolio with tailor-made iWelt AG solutions relating to all aspects of communications and information technology and focussing particularly on software development and internet service-providing.

c.) The Vogel Media Group, based in Würzburg/Germany, is one of the leading media companies with international operations in the realm of specialised journalism and special-interest publications. With its sector-orientated range of publications and products, the group provides decision-makers and enterprising users with information with a high utility value. At the core of its business are Vogel Business Media’s specialist media activities in the following sectors: Industry, Automotive & Mobility, Information Technology, Home Entertainment, Law/Tax/Economy and Foreign Trade. As a B2B information provider, the company is centred on a cross-media, comprehensive portfolio of printed publications, online and face-to-face features. The business activities of the Vogel Media Group and its investment holdings concentrate on Europe and Asia. In Germany alone there are around 650 employees at the company’s main bases in Würzburg and Munich, working on the development and production of more than 50 different magazines with a total annual circulation of more than 20 million copies.

If you have any queries, please feel free to contact:

Günter Schürger

Managing Director

Würzburger Medien-Akademie GmbH i.G.

Max-Planck-Str. 7/9

97064 Würzburg

Germany

Tel. +49 (0)931-418-2699

Fax +49 (0)931-418-2421

Email: guenter_schuerger@vogel-medien.de

www.medienakademie.de