01.07.2021
Czech News Agency (ČTK) today signed an agreement on the acquisition of the Profimedia.CZ a.s. group. ČTK wants to offer the market a complete service in photographs and other visual materials by purchasing the Profimedia photo bank.
Jiří Majstr, the CEO of ČTK, said: "ČTK has the largest national photo bank and a rich historical photo archive, to which current images are being added every moment. By joining with the largest provider of image material from abroad, which represents many of the world's top photo banks, we will offer our clients new services."
ČTK's clients will gain access to a wider range of photography while maintaining their existing services. By joining with Profimedia.CZ, the national news agency will reach additional foreign markets with its photographs. The Group is active in several countries, mainly in Eastern Europe. In addition, clients of both companies will be able to work in one user interface.
Igor Rattaj, the current owner, said: "Profimedia's clients will not only gain access to new unique content while retaining the existing services, but also, thanks to ČTK's professional and technical background, more precise and broader targeting within individual topics, greater thematic coverage, offers of photo selections for numerous new events in the future, and the support of the national news agency."
ČTK also intends to use modern platform for selling photos, which was developed internally at Profimedia and is already used by several photo banks around the world. By expanding its visual content offering, ČTK is targeting the non-media market, where it feels there is an opportunity for growing use of agency services. ČTK's management also expects the cooperation between the two major players in the visual resources and services to strengthen the economic benefits for the agency's operations.
Shared content on a common platform will allow users to save on additional resources regardless of the specific types of photos they need. Clients will also find it easier to navigate the gradually unified licensing terms. Subscribers will also undoubtedly appreciate that their photography needs will be administered from one place that will handle all their visual content needs.
The Profimedia brand will be retained even after the takeover. Profimedia.CZ will also remain, operating as a subsidiary of ČTK and retaining the form of a joint stock company.
The price of the transaction will not be disclosed.
ČTK is a public media outlet, but it operates its own business and does not receive public subsidies. ČTK's multimedia service offers between 450 and 600 news stories a day, some 300 of its own news items and illustrative photographs, and additional photographs from the partners it represents around the world, including the US AP, Germany's dpa and other leading global creators, as well as individual photographers. The digitised part of the ČTK photo archive now contains over one million photographs and this number is continuously increasing. ČTK has about 250 employees and an annual turnover of more than CZK 250 million.
The Profimedia.CZ a.s. group offers images from all over the world in all areas: illustrative photography, news, celebrity, fashion, food, garden, portraits, historical. The business includes the parent company Profimedia with headquarters in the Czech Republic and subsidiaries in Hungary, Croatia and Romania. The group has 26 employees and an annual turnover of almost 130 million crowns in recent years.