TMG has increased its interest in GroupDeal B.V. from 40% to 60%. The Dutch GroupDeal company (www.groupdeal.nl) bundles the power of group purchasing with social media via daily national offers and specific offers in larger Dutch cities. This enables GroupDeal to offer buyers the lowest possible prices from the best local companies. Participating companies via GroupDeal increase their brand awareness, draw consumers’ attention to their special offers and increase turnover.

TMG recently announced a new strategic direction. The key components of the strategy are focus, bundling of strengths and investing in (digital) growth. TMG wants to transform itself during the period 2012-2016 into a cross-media company by accelerating its online growth.

The acquisition of a majority share in GroupDeal fits into the growth objectives related to the online domain.GroupDeal’s management will stay in place and owns the other 40% of the company’s shares. As a result of its increased interest, GroupDeal’s results will be consolidated as part of TMG’s results. GroupDeal is vested in Amsterdam and employs 25 FTEs.

Paul Montagne, Managing Director of GroupDeal: “GroupDeal’s online ambitions are highly consistent with TMG’s objectives. The majority interest expands TMG’s opportunities for cross-promotion within its own portfolio as a means of increasing GroupDeal’s brand awareness. Furthermore, closer collaboration by GroupDeal with, for example, Hyves, Dichtbij and De Telegraaf Webshop will further strengthen the company’s position in social shopping.”

Johan Ooms, Head of Mergers & Acquisitions at TMG: “The social shopping market has grown significantly in recent years. In the near future, we also expect market consolidation in addition to further market growth, whereby it will become more difficult for relatively small market players to provide interesting special offers and a large sales reach. TMG has every confidence that Paul Montagne and his team will succeed in further strengthening and expanding GroupDeal’s market position.”