Zurich, 12 May 2011 – Expanding its online portfolio, Swiss media company Tamedia as a first step acquires a 49% stake in Doodle, the nationally and internationally leading scheduling platform. Further increases in Tamedia‘s stake are planned between 2013 and 2016. Until then, the founders Michael Näf and Paul E. Sevinç will remain involved in the company as managing directors and members of the board and Innovation Foundation of Schwyzer Kantonalbank as a minority shareholder.

Doodle will be an ideal addition to Tamedia’s strong online portfolio in Switzerland, which includes the news platforms 20 Minuten Online and Newsnetz, the online marketplaces car4­you.ch and homegate.ch, the job platforms of Jobup AG and the shopping platform FashionFriends. A partnership with Switzerland’s leading directory platform search.ch aims to further strengthen Doodle’s position in the advertising market and in the SME segment. Together with the team around the founders Michael Näf and Paul E. Sevinç Tamedia also wants to continue growing with Doodle internationally.

Doodle AG operates the world’s leading scheduling platform under doodle.com. This free basic service is available in 29 languages and used by more than 8 million users every month. In addition to the basic service, Doodle offers paid premium services for individuals and companies. The award-winning startup headquartered at Technopark in Zurich has a total of 11 employees. The two parties have agreed not to disclose any details of the participation, which will be reported to the Swiss Federal Competition Commission.

(tamedia.ch)