Corporate events

Arnoldo Mondadori Editore S.p.A. today announced, as per Art. 2.6.2 of the regulations governing markets organised and managed by Borsa Italiana S.p.A., the corporate events scheduled for the current year:

• Monday 21 March 2011: meeting of the Board of Directors for the approval of the Annual Report for the year ended 31 December 2010;
• Monday 9 May 2011: meeting of the Board of Directors for the approval of the 1st Quarter Report to 31 March 2011;
• Wednesday 27 July 2011: meeting of the Board of Directors for the approval of the Interim Report to 30 June 2011
• Thursday 10 November 2011: meeting of the Board of Directors for the approval of the 3rd Quarter Report to 30 September 2011.

The Annual General Meeting of the Shareholders for the approval of the Annual Report for the year ended 31 December 2010 will be held on Thursday 21 April 2011, on first calling, or Friday 22 April 2011, on an eventual second calling.

Analysts’ presentations of the results for the full year to 31 December 2010, the interim report to 30 June 2011 and the reports on the first and third quarters of 2011 will be held on the dates, as indicated above, of the respective meetings of the Board of Directors.

Any eventual changes will be promptly communicated to the market.

Mondadori and Google have signed a partnership that will make Mondadori Group’s wealth of Italian trade books available in electronic format around the world through Google Books and Google eBooks.

This partnership makes Mondadori, the biggest Italian publisher, to join Google Books and Google eBooks programme, and it means that a wealth of Italian literature and culture will be full text searchable and available for sale to readers around the world.

Google Books is already available in Italy and through Google Books readers around the world will be able to search for and find Mondadori Books through Google, to see an online preview of the books and to purchase physical copies of these books through online and physical retailers. Google eBooks–Google’s online bookstore–will launch in Europe in 2011. Through today’s announcement, Google will also sell Mondadori ebooks.

The trade catalogue of the Mondadori Group (Edizioni Mondadori, Einaudi, Sperling & Kupfer and Edizioni Piemme) includes over 10,000 titles, 1600 of which are already available as ebooks. All of the titles in the catalogue will gradually form part of the Google Books programme.

Mondadori is the leading company in the Italian book market with a share of 28.4% in 2009. The Group’s editorial production is mainly focused on fiction and essays, paperbacks and children’s books, with over 2000 new titles every year.

“The partnership with Google represents confirmation of Mondadori’s focus on growth and innovative solutions”, stated CEO of the Mondadori Group, Maurizio Costa. “Consistent with this vision we have decided to join forces with an authoritative platform such as the one belonging to Google both to offer a preview of our titles and to make the considerable range of titles produced by our publishing houses available for purchase”, he continued. “The agreement with Google without doubt represents a significant opportunity to promote the quality of our content and our editorial production on a large scale”, concluded Costa.

“This is a fantastic step for the promotion of Italian culture, and it will mean more opportunity for Italian writers, and readers around the globe,” said Santiago de la Mora, Director of Google Books for EMEA. “We want Google eBooks to help stimulate the online books environment, and by working with important publishers like Mondadori we can achieve this goal.”

With Google eBooks, readers can discover and buy books from the Google eBookstore or independent online booksellers who have partnered with Google. This provides a myriad of ways for books to be discovered and purchased online. Whether a consumer buys a Google eBook from Google or from an online bookseller, they are all stored in a single online library. Readers can view their Google eBooks on devices from laptops to netbooks to tablets to smartphones to e-readers.

Arnoldo Mondadori Editore S.p.A. today announced that it has made available, at both the company’s headquarters and Borsa Italiana S.p.A., the minutes of the extraordinary part of the Shareholders’ Meeting held the last 11 November 2010.

The above-mentioned documentation is also available at the website www.gruppomondadori.it (‘Governance’ section).

Arnoldo Mondadori Editore S.p.A. today announced that it has made available, at both the company’s headquarters and Borsa Italiana S.p.A., the illustrative reports of the directors for the following items on the agenda of the Shareholders’ Meeting called for 11November 2010 (12 November on second calling).

Ordinary part:

• the appointment of directors, prior to the increase in the number of the members of the board of directors; consequent deliberations.

Extraordinary part:

• changes to articles 9, 11, 12, 14, 16, 17, 27 and 28 of the company statute, also in line with the provisions of legislative decree n. 27 of 27 January 2010 (in compliance with EU Directive 2007/36/CE regarding the exercise of certain shareholders’ rights for listed companies) legislative decree n. 39 of 27 January 2010 (in compliance with EU Directive 2006/43/CE regarding the mandatory annual auditing of accounts and consolidated accounts); consequent deliberations and relevant mandates.

The above-mentioned documentation is also available at: http://www.mondadorigroup.com/Governance/Shareholders-meeting.

The board of directors of Arnoldo Mondadori Editore S.p.A. will present a proposal to the Shareholders’ Meeting called for 11 November 2010 (12 November 2010 on second calling) for the appointment following an increase in the number of the members of the board.

Specifically, the Shareholders will be asked to approve the appointment of two non-executive independent directors and one executive director.

The proposed independent non-executive directors will be Carlo Sangalli, the current President of Confcommercio (the Italian retailers’ association), and Angelo Renoldi, professor of economics and business administration at the University of Bergamo.

This increase in the number of non-executive directors is consistent with the ongoing reinforcement of the role and function of independent directors indicated, in particular, by soon to be introduced Consob regulations concerning operations with related parties.

The nominations put forward would also further consolidate and provide additional support for the functions and activities of internal committees (specifically, the Internal Control Committee and the Remuneration Committee) established by the board of directors of Arnoldo Mondadori Editore S.p.A. as part of the company’s system of corporate governance.

The proposed new executive director is Roberto Briglia, who will bring to the board, as the Group’s Editorial Director, a contribution based on his vast experience in the publishing sector.

The current board of directors, which will remain in office until the AGM for the approval of the Annual Report for the year 2011, is made up by Marina Berlusconi (chairman), Maurizio Costa (deputy chairman and chief executive), Pier Silvio Berlusconi, Pasquale Cannatelli, Bruno Ermolli, Martina Mondadori, Roberto Poli, Mario Resca, Marco Spadacini, Umberto Veronesi and Carlo Maria Vismara.

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The Extraordinary Shareholders’ Meeting of 11 (12) November 2010 will also receive proposals concerning a series of statutory changes concerning compliance with the EU Directive 2007/36/CE relating to the exercise of certain rights by shareholders of listed companies.

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Illustrative reports concerning the items on the agenda of the Shareholders’ Meeting, including professional profiles of the proposed new directors, will be available to the public at the company’s headquarters, Borsa Italiana S.p.A. and on the web site www.gruppomondadori.it (Governance sector) in line with current rulings.

Stefano De Alessandri has been appointed the new general manager of Magazines Italy of the Mondadori Group.

De Alessandri, 50, was born in Milan and has a degree in economics and business administration from Milan’s Bocconi University. He has an extensive and wide-ranging knowledge of the Italian magazine market and has, over the years, also built up considerable managerial experience with important positions at large International publishers.

De Alessandri began his professional life at RCS in 1989, where he held a series of jobs with growing responsibility until 1999, when he moved to Condé Nast as deputy general manager and director.

In 2003 De Alessandri was appointed managing director and general manager of Gruner+Jahr/Mondadori, where he remained until 2005, when he was appointed chief executive and general manager of Hachette Rusconi, the Italian arm of the Lagardére Active group, where he remained until now.

The Mondadori Group wishes to thank Gianni Vallardi for his valuable contribution, made with competence, passion and professionalism during the whole of his time with the company.

Telecom Italia and the Mondadori Group today signed an e-book distribution deal in Frankfurt, at a ceremony attended by Telecom Italia CEO Franco Bernabè and Mondadori Group Deputy Chairman and CEO Maurizio Costa.

As a result of this deal, Bibletstore Italy’s first digital bookshop opens for business today, offering over 1,200 e-books from the Mondadori publishing group.

Eight hundred titles from Mondadori, Einaudi, Sperling & Kupfer and Piemme’s back catalogue will be sold through Telecom Italia’s e-book store (www.biblet.it) along with over 400 new books published simultaneously in paper and electronic form.

Telecom Italia CEO Franco Bernabè declared: “We are particularly pleased about this deal with the Mondadori Group. It is a significant testament to our ability to innovate, which allows us to position the company as a driver of high-tech-led markets. Telecom Italia’s launch of Bibletstore spells the adoption of a new business model that differs from models adopted in other countries. Telecom Italia is developing this model in partnership with publishers, which retain the greatest possible freedom in terms of commercial positioning and setting price points.”

Maurizio Costa, Deputy Chairman and CEO of the Mondadori Group, stated: “The global transition currently underway in the book market, prompted by the uptake of new technologies, is set to have a significant impact also in Italy. Rapid mobile device growth will free reading. People will have more time to explore new content, which will lead to an increase in consumption in step with worldwide trends for increasing demand for information, learning and cultural entertainment. This partnership with Telecom Italia is a significant first step for the Mondadori Group’s leveraging of its publishing assets, which will also become available over the main platforms and devices available on the market.” Mr Costa concluded: “In the near future, our focus on the customer/reader will increasingly become our most precious resource. By sharing expertise with Telecom Italia, we will be able to offer our users an increasingly personalized service.”

Ken Follett’s latest novel, Fall of Giants, is one of the first new Mondadori books available on Telecom Italia’s e-book store shelves. Back catalogue titles from the Group’s publishing imprints include literary masterpieces by Jane Austen and Thomas Mann and recent bestsellers such as Jonathan Franzen’s The Corrections and Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code, along with books by leading lights on the contemporary book scene such as Philip Roth and Gabriel Garcia Marquez, and genre literary greats ranging from Agatha Christie to John Grisham. Also available are great thinkers of the past such as Descartes and Seneca, and more recent Italian and international non-fiction, as well as classic children’s books from Hans Christian Andersen’s Fables and the latest generation of children’s heroes such as Geronimo Stilton.

In a world first, the partnership between Telecom Italia and the Mondadori Group will see the launch this Christmas of three subscription-based themed e-book channels: high-brow lit, genre lit (thrillers and romance), and books for children. This new development will completely revolutionize the way readers are offered books. For a set monthly fee, readers will have access to a theme-based reading list. Subscribers can read as many books as they like from this list, one book at a time.

Telecom Italia’s dedicated new e-book platform will carry ePub and PDF format e-books protected by a Digital Rights Management (DRM) system to protect authors’ copyright.

Customers can, starting from today, buy e-books on Bibletstore from their PCs and pay by credit card. In the near future, TIM e-book readers will be launched that offer straightforward and direct access to the e-book store via 3G phone connection. Customers will pay nothing to browse the store, and will only be charged for the books they purchase. Using this method, payments will be accepted by credit card or by charging against credit on the SIM card. E-books may also be purchased and read using Olivetti’s OliPad, a new tablet that is being launched over the next few months, and on other devices that download dedicated applications free of charge.

From next week, Marco Casareto will be the new editor of the monthly magazine Geo.

Marco Casareto, 43, was born in Chelmsford, England. After studying physics at the University of Milan, he began freelancing for a number of magazines including, from 1993, Focus.

He joined the editorial staff of the Gruner+Jahr/Mondadori monthly three years later and in 2000 was appointed section chief with responsibility for coordinating the Focus Extra brand extension. Managing editor from 2002, in 2004 he became the coordinator of the new Gruner+Jahr/Mondadori title, Focus Storia, of which he became deputy editor in 2006 and editor in 2008. The same year he was appointed editor of Geo, a role he kept until November 2009, when he focused on the monthly Focus Storia and related editorial projects.

Following the launch of three new titles in 2010 (Wars, Biografie and Collection), Casareto today re-takes the helm at Geo.

Electa, a leader in art book publishing and museum services management, and Réunion des Musées Nationaux have drawn up an agreement for the creation of a 50-50 joint venture for the management of bookshop services at museums and archaeological sites owned by the Italian state.

Réunion des musées nationaux (RMN) – the biggest commercial operator in France and Europe in the culture sector, with revenues of over €100 million and over 1,000 employees, has a long-standing reputation for quality in the different areas in which it operates: publishing, sales, merchandising, exhibition organisation, picture agency and the valorisation of museum sites.

The French company is also the world’s biggest distributor of editorial products and gadgets, through the management of over 40 “librairies-boutiques”, including those at the Louvre and the other leading museums in Paris.

The newly-established company – Electa Rmn – aims to participate in all of the forthcoming bids for the management of bookshops in Italian state-owned museums and the creation of high-quality publishing and merchandising activities, which – thanks to the complementary experience and know-how of the two companies – makes it a qualified interlocutor for the valorisation of Italy’s historic artistic and museum assets.

“What is clear from the numbers is that there is a gap, in terms of best practice in museum services, between the offer in the Italian market and in other European countries,” explained Martin Angioni, managing director of Electa. “This is why, confident of the great potential for development offered by Italy’s outstanding historical and artistic heritage, Electa has decided to share with a partner, that we consider to be the best possible, the crucial transition for our sector,” continued Angioni.

“Access to a great store of knowledge and management skills and the opportunity of creating a system together with that of France, in general, and Paris in particular, gives a sense of the qualitative leap that our country can make in the so-called “additional services” sector, which is so strategic for our development. One figure is enough to illustrate the point. The Louvre, on its own, generates more bookshop revenues than all our museum bookshops put together,” concluded Angioni.

“Electa’s detailed knowledge of the Italian market, allied with Rmn’s experience as the world leader in museum bookshops, will enable Electa Rmn to make an attractive proposal for the valorisation of the extraordinary assets of Italy’s museums and archaeological sites,” claimed Thomas Grenon, managing director of Rmn.

Completion of the operation is subject to the necessary authorisation of the relevant authorities.

For more than 60 years Electa has played a dynamic role in the documentation and study of different areas of the visual arts. The company’s innovative editorial models, the quality of research, the unmistakable image and the great care taken in the preparation of reproductions are part of the history of illustrated publishing.

A success that has also led to an extensive network of co-editions with the world’s leading publishers in the sector and in the direct sales sector abroad, especially in the English-language markets.

Electa is currently the leader in the art and architecture sectors. But over the years the activities of the publishing house have expanded and it is now Italy’s leading player in the organisation of exhibitions and the management of museum services.

Réunion des Musées Nationaux is the world’s biggest commercial operator in the culture sector. In addition to the most important museums in Paris (Louvre, Musée d’Orsay, Grand Palais, Petit Palais, Musée Guimet, Musée du Quai Branly), it manages museum services and organises exhibitions across the whole of France (from Versailles to the Musée Cezanne in Aix-en-Provence).

Rmn is also part of the Louvre Abu Dhabi Project. In 2009 the company organised 28 exhibitions, including “Picasso et les Maîtres”, which, with 800,000 visitors and 94,000 catalogues’ sales, was one of the world’s biggest exhibitions of the year.

Paola Girardi has been appointed as the new editor of Casaviva from 2 November.

Girardi, born in Bari, she began her career at Mondadori, in 1982, in the graphic design area. She became a qualified journalist in 1985, and the following year she moved to Casaviva where she remained until 1989. From ’89 to ‘98 she was head of the design and layout department of Elle Decor (Edizioni Edif) before returning to Mondadori, to work on the weekly Grazia, where she worked also on the title’s supplements. In 2000 she was appointed editor of Sposabella (Condé Nast) and, after editing the travel magazine V&S (Edizioni Quadratum) from 2006 to 2009, she took the helm at Home (Hachette Rusconi), where she remained until now.

Casaviva is the leading title in the homes and furniture segment, in which Mondadori operates with a number of established titles that cover all of the circulation and advertising targets in the sector.

With a formula based on lifestyles, the evolution of tastes, the pleasures of the home and a constant update on production, Casaviva is an essential point of reference in the interiors market.