Mafra is a Czech

media group A media conglomerate, media company, media group, or media institution is a company that owns numerous companies involved in mass media enterprises, such as music, television, radio, publishing, motion pictures, video games, amusement parks, or ...

that publishes

printed Printing is a process for mass reproducing text and Printmaking, images using a master form or template. The earliest non-paper products involving printing include cylinder seals and objects such as the Cyrus Cylinder and the Cylinders of Nabon ...

and

internet media Mass media include the diverse arrays of media that reach a large audience via mass communication. Broadcast media transmit information electronically via media such as films, radio, recorded music, or television. Digital media comprises bot ...

, headquartered in

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

. From 2013 to 2023, it was a subsidiary of

Agrofert Agrofert is a Czech Conglomerate (company), conglomerate holding company headquartered in Prague, Czech Republic. It operates agriculture, Food industry, food, Chemical industry, chemical, construction, logistics, forestry, Energy industry, energy ...

holding conglomerate owned by trust of

Andrej Babiš Andrej Babiš (; born 2 September 1954) is a Czech businessman and politician who served as the Prime Minister of the Czech Republic, prime minister of the Czech Republic from 2017 to 2021. He previously served as the Finance Minister of the Cze ...

, the former

Prime Minister of the Czech Republic The prime minister of the Czech Republic ( Czech: ''Předseda vlády České republiky'') is the head of the government of the Czech Republic and the '' de facto'' leader and most powerful member of the executive branch. The Constitution provid ...

. Mafra owns newspapers ''

Mladá fronta Dnes ''Mladá fronta Dnes'' (), also known as ''MF Dnes'' or simply ''Dnes'', is a daily newspaper based in the Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Euro ...

'' and ''

Lidové noviny ''Lidové noviny'' (''People's News'', or ''The People's Newspaper'', ) is a daily newspaper published in Prague, the Czech Republic. It is the oldest Czech daily still in print, and a newspaper of record. It is a national news daily covering po ...

''. In September 2023, Agrofert sold the group to the Czech billionaire investor Karel Pražák (Kaprain Group).

History

Founded in 1992 in

, Mafra was acquired in 1994 by the German group Rheinisch-Bergische Druckerei- und Verlagsgesellschaft GmbH (RBDV) (the publisher of the ''

Rheinische Post ''Rheinische Post'' () is a major German regional daily newspaper published since 1946 by the ''Rheinische Post Verlagsgesellschaft GmbH'' company, and headquartered in Düsseldorf. The Post is especially dominant in the western part of North Rhi ...

''), which bought Mafra from French press group

Socpresse Socpresse was a French corporation which controlled the conservative daily newspaper ''Le Figaro'', the weekly magazine ''L'Express'', 40% of the weekly '' Le Journal du Dimanche'', '' Valeurs Actuelles'', and the football club FC Nantes. The co ...

. In 2013, Mafra was acquired by Czech holding group

, which is owned by

. Mafra publishes the daily newspaper ''

'', which – with 224,000 circulation as of March 2011 – is the second largest newspaper in the Czech Republic, after tabloid ''

Blesk ''Blesk'' () is a daily tabloid newspaper published in Prague, the Czech Republic. History and profile ''Blesk'' was first published on 14 April 1991. In 1992, it launched a weekly edition published on Sundays and its magazine, which is a comp ...

''. Fully owned subsidiary Lidové noviny, a.s. publishes daily newspaper ''

'' with circulation of 44,000, 60% subsidiary Metro Česká republika, a.s. publishes a

freesheet Free newspapers are distributed Gratis versus libre, free of charge, often in central places in cities and towns, on public transport, with other newspapers, or separately door-to-door. The revenues of such newspapers are based on advertising. T ...

Czech edition of ''

Metro Metro may refer to: Geography * Metro City (Indonesia), a city in Indonesia * A metropolitan area, the populated region including and surrounding an urban center Public transport * Rapid transit, a passenger railway in an urban area with high ...

'' with a circulation of 266,000. As of February 2011, ''Mladá fronta Dnes'' is the third most visited Czech website on the internet, with 3.7 million unique visitors per month. During the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, Mafra benefited disproportionately from

state aid State aid in the European Union is the name given to a subsidy or any other aid provided by a government that distorts competition. Under European Union competition law, the term has a legal meaning, being any measure that demonstrates any of the ...

References

External links

Mafra

Mafra
{{Authority control Mass media companies of the Czech Republic Mass media companies established in 1992 Mass media in Prague Companies based in Prague 1992 establishments in Czechoslovakia