The media companies RTL Deutschland and Gruner + Jahr are joining forces to form a new national cross-media champion. The decision follows a review process lasting several months, with the aim of deepening the successful collaboration between the country’s leading private TV, radio, and streaming group and the publishing house with its powerful brands. The new company will start operating as one at the beginning of next year. Bertelsmann CEO Thomas Rabe says: “The relevant bodies, RTL Group’s Board, and Bertelsmann’s Executive Board and Supervisory Board, have come to the conclusion that RTL Deutschland and G+J can better exploit their growth potential together. By forming this national media champion, Bertelsmann is implementing its strategic priorities as it has already done in France, the Netherlands and Belgium. This will strengthen our media businesses in the German market in the competition with the global tech platforms,” Rabe continued, “No other media company in this country can create such a cross-genre growth alliance. RTL Deutschland and G+J are a content powerhouse that combines the content expertise of 1,500 journalists, among other things. The companies bring together strong content and brands across the various media under one roof. This will generate annual synergies of around 100 million euros – largely due to growth.”

*Net sales of $4.04 billion, up 2% compared to last year. Comparable sales were up 1% year-over-year. -Online sales increased 5% compared to last year and represented 39% of total net sales. -Store sales increased 1% compared to last year. The company ended the quarter with 3,380 store locations in over 40 countries, of which 2,743 were company operated. *Reported gross margin was 37.4%; adjusted gross margin, excluding $53 million in impairment charges related to Yeezy Gap, was 38.7%, deleveraging 320 basis points versus last year. *Reported operating income was $186 million; reported operating margin of 4.6%. *Reported net income of $282 million.

The Arena Group on Monday announced it has finalized the acquisition of the multimedia content company AMG/Parade, whose brands include the iconic Sunday-newspaper magazine, Parade, as well as Relish and Spry Living. They will anchor The Arena Group’s new Lifestyle vertical and expand the Company’s Sports vertical. The Parade Media titles join Arena Group’s portfolio of 13 brands, including Sports Illustrated, TheStreet, HubPages, Fashionista, and Pet Helpful.