Hanza Media is the leading media company in Croatia and Southeast Europe, with 5 daily newspapers, more than 20 magazines, and 20 digital editions. Hanza Media's consumer magazines are aimed at the public and range from general-interest titles, which appeal to a broad spectrum of readers, to highly specialist titles covering particular hobbies, leisure pursuits or other interest. Hanza Media also has strong national and international operations and is involved in printed media distribution, media production and tourism. At the end of the first decade of the century the EPH did not timely nor successfully adapt to market and financial crisis that hit the newspaper industry after 2008, primarily dramatically reducing resources from advertising and marketing. The decline of newspapers has been debated, as the industry has faced slumping ad sales, the loss of much classified advertising and precipitous drops in circulation. Faced with the impossibility of regular loan repayment, the ownership reached in February 2014 a pre-failure settlement with creditors. So 90 percent of the share passed into the hands of the Hypo Group, which soon sold its share to the local attorney and prominent distraint enforcer for state-owned national broadcaster HTV, Marijan Hanžeković.
History
Founding
Founded in 1990 by Ninoslav Pavić and his partners, Europapress Holding's first publication was the weekly news magazineGlobus. First published in December 1990, Globus was originally devised as a tabloid. Low circulation and financial losses marked its first year in print. However, with the start of the Croatian War of Independence, Globus instantly shifted its focus and started publishing revealing stories from the front lines. It was the first publication to report war crimes committed by Serbian forces against Croats in Croatia. Later on, in mid and late 1990s, Globus started writing about the shady aspects of privatization in Croatia, organized crime and all other topics avoided by the government-controlled media. As such, Globus is credited for introducing investigative and independent journalism in Croatia.
EPH launches Playboy
In 1996, Playboy Enterprises and Europapress Holding announced a partnership to launch a new edition of Playboy magazine in Croatia. Playboy Croatia officially launched with its February/March 1997 issue. EPH sold its rights on Playboy, Cosmopolitan and Grazia in 2010.
Starting a new daily newspaper
In 1998, Europapress Holding decided to start Jutarnji list, a modern daily newspaper with progressive social views. It was launched in April 1998, being the first successful daily newspaper to appear after Croatian independence. It was named after a Zagreb daily that used to circulate before WW2. It quickly took the lion's share of Croatian media market and became one of the most read newspapers in country. Today, its circulation is about 115,000.
Acquisition of Sportske Novosti
In 1999, Europapress holding bought Sportske novosti, the only sports daily in Croatia and one of the leading sports newspapers in Europe. On 30 December 2005Zvonimir Boban was appointed CEO of Sportske novosti. Boban resigned from his position in December 2008 due to his long-standing dissatisfaction with the editorial board.
On 1 March 2003, a bomb exploded under the car of Nino Pavić, the owner of Croatia’s biggest private publishing company Europapress Holding. Pavić was not in the car when the bomb exploded. No one was hurt, but the police investigation failed to trace the attacker or attackers. The attack received worldwide condemnation from other publishers and human rights organizations. The President of World Association of Newspapers and the World Editors Forum, which represents 18,000 publications in 100 countries, wrote a letter to the Croatian government to express serious concern at the attempted murder of press magnate Pavic. The leading human rights and democracy monitoring organization OSCE claimed that the "car bombing targeting Croatian media mogul Pavic was an 'act of terror'".
In 2005, EPH launched a buyout bid of more than 540 million kunas for the popular local daily, Slobodna Dalmacija. The offer was accepted, and in late 2005 the deal was settled. There were a number of negative reactions and accusations of a potentially monopolistic position the purchase would mean for EPH. Slobodna Dalmacija has since seen an increase in circulation, now at around 60,000 copies, as well as an updated layout and format.
