NETHERLANDS - PCM, one of the largest newspaper publishers in the Dutch language region, has transferred its €500m pension fund to the €7.6bn industry-wide pension fund for the publishing sector, PGB.

PCM is one of Holland’s biggest publishers. Its newspaper stable includes De Volkskrant, NRC Handelsblad, Algemeen Dagblad, Trouw and regional newspapers, freesheets, trade and professional books and educational publications.

PCM, in which UK-based venture capitalist Apax Partners holds a 52.5% majority stake, is shifting its pension fund to an industry-wide fund because it wants to focus on its core activities. In a joint statement, PGB and PCM said the changes in pension regulation and the new framework FTK also played a part in the decision.

The PCM pension fund has 3,500 participants.

PCM pension fund chairman Ben Knapen said the publishing house had opted for PGB because it had a “good reputation and price-quality ratio”.

Paul van Leeuwen, general director at PGB, also welcomed the decision, saying: “It is good to see a corporate pension fund like PCM chooses to move its pension scheme to PGB.” PGB currently covers some 50,000 participants.

PCM group is divided into a holding company office in Amsterdam and a number of subsidiaries. In 2003, PCM made net profits of €9 million on net sales of €647 million.

Topics