INM set to rebrand as Mediahuis from May 12

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Brand new: INM CEO, Marc Vangeel. Photo: Damien Eagers/INM

Sarah Collins

April 13 2021 02:30 AM

Independent News and Media is rebranding to Mediahuis.

The company kicked off a public notification process yesterday to inform customers and vendors of the upcoming name change, which will take effect from May 12.

The change comes almost two years after INM’s acquisition by the European publishing group Mediahuis in 2019.

INM said in a statement that the company has “undergone a significant transformation” since the acquisition, including the introduction of a paid-for subscription for Independent.ie and Belfasttelegraph.co.uk in early 2020.

The rebrand won’t affect any INM titles on the island of Ireland, including the Irish Independent, Sunday Independent, The Herald, Sunday World, The Belfast Telegraph or any regional sites.

“At national and local level, our titles have charted the remarkable changes on this island for over 150 years, playing a role in – and leaving a mark on – our political, social and cultural evolution,” INM said in a statement yesterday.

“We are mindful of the role our titles play in society and in the proper functioning of a democracy. We are also mindful of the deep connection our readers feel with our titles.

"Therefore the change now will be that the company which owns our titles will be called Mediahuis, but the titles themselves will not change, neither in name nor in their inherent nature.”

Mediahuis is a private Belgian company created in 2014 and headquartered in Antwerp, with operations across Belgium, the Netherlands, Ireland and Luxembourg.

The company has an annual turnover of approximately €1bn, delivering daily online and print news to more than 10 million readers and employing around 4,300 people.

Mediahuis’ portfolio includes Belgium’s Flemish-language daily, De Standaard and radio stations Nostalgie and NRJ and the Luxembourg Times English-language site. It also operates several property, recruitment and automotive online marketplaces.

The rebrand means INM’s main Irish trading entity, Independent Newspapers (Ireland) Limited, will change to Mediahuis Ireland Limited, while Independent News and Media Limited, publisher of the Belfast Telegraph, will change to Mediahuis UK Limited.

The existing INM board, led by its chairman Murdoch MacLennan, will remain in place.