1984-1995: Expansion and regional growth. Entry into new businesses, complementary to the written press business
From 1984 to 1990, the company acquired stakes in Area Editorial, S.A., which launched the financial newspaper Expansión, and in Espacio Editorial, S.A., the publisher of the sports daily, Marca. In 1995, the 10% stake in Recoletos Compañía Editorial, S.A. (the company which resulted from the merger of Area Editorial, S.A. with Espacio Editorial, S.A. and others) was sold, for capital gains of 15 million euros, which were invested in new expansion projects.
In addition, in this period majority stakes were acquired in the publishers of 4 regional newspapers: La Verdad (Murcia), Ideal (Granada), Hoy (Extremadura) and Sur (Málaga), and an additional 11% was acquired in El Diario Montañés, giving the group a majority stake. At the end of this period (in 1993 and 1994), majority stakes were also acquired in the publishers of the newspapers La Rioja, El Norte de Castilla (Valladolid) and El Comercio (Asturias).
Elsewhere, in 1991, the first step was taken in the process of separating the printing from the publishing side of the newspapers, with the creation of Bilbao Editorial Producciones, S.A. In 1992, to complement the main local press business, a 16% stake was acquired in Taller de Editores, S.A. (subsequently TESA), which is today the publisher of the weekend supplements XL Semanal, Pantalla Semanal, Mujer Hoy and Hoy Corazón. With this acquisition, the group entered the supplements and magazine business. Since 1991, the company Distribuciones Comecosa, S.L. (COMECOSA) has grouped the various stakes in different regional distribution companies.
Likewise, in 1992 a majority stake was acquired in Publisal-Carat, S.A. (a media company dedicated to the planning and purchase of advertising space, which was to become Mediasal 2000, S.A.), and the group established Gratuitos de Corporación de Medios, S.A., for the publishing of free newspapers. In August 1995, the online version of Diario Vasco (www.diariovasco.com) was launched, the first newspaper to do so in the VOCENTO group, followed by the other newspapers from 1995 to 1996.
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