300-Year-Old Aschendorff Sells Iconic Newspapers to Rheinische Post
Excerpt from the article "Discreet Deal Without Competitive Bidding" (kress pro 2/2026):
In these times, newspapers changing hands is hardly unusual. On the contrary: everyone expects the fierce competition over market consolidation—driven by declining revenues—to intensify in the coming years. Yet the latest deal underscores just how seismic the shifts in the industry have become. In March, the shareholders of Aschendorff, a venerable Münster-based publishing house with over 300 years in the newspaper business, sold their titles to Düsseldorf's Rheinische Post Media Group. Under the umbrella of the Westfälische Medien Holding (WMH), the portfolio includes the most influential papers in Münsterland and East Westphalia, boasting a combined paid circulation of around 152,300 copies. Including partner publishers, the total reaches roughly 203,300 (IVW Q4/2025). The flagship titles are Münster's Westfälische Nachrichten and Bielefeld's Westfalen-Blatt.
"The decision to part with our historic newspaper business was not an easy one," stated Benedikt Hüffer (who holds 50% of the shares) and Eduard Hüffer (8.8%), whose family has been in publishing for nine generations. As managing partners of Aschendorff, they were the driving force behind the sale. While the deal still requires approval from the Federal Cartel Office, anything other than swift clearance would come as a surprise.
It is clear that the Münster shareholders were not aiming to maximize the sale price. According to kress pro sources, there was no competitive bidding process; instead, they negotiated exclusively—and with utmost discretion—with the Rheinische Post Media Group, led by CEO Johannes Werle.
Insiders familiar with the situation consistently report that two key considerations shaped the Münster partners' approach. First, the shareholders feared the unrest that often arises when word spreads that a newspaper is up for sale. Second, Benedikt and Eduard Hüffer are old-school publishers, deeply rooted in conservative, bourgeois values—a stance that significantly narrowed the pool of potential buyers. A sale to the Madsack Media Group, in which the SPD holds a minority stake, was deemed entirely out of the question.
When asked by kress pro about their motives, Benedikt and Eduard Hüffer emphasized: "For us, it was crucial to place the WMH within a company that Mr. Werle rightly describes as a 'major family-run business'—one that shares our commitment to performance-driven stakeholder engagement while upholding social responsibility toward our employees. Equally important is the Rheinische Post's conservative-liberal editorial line, which aligns closely with the cultural and social fabric of East Westphalia and Münsterland—and, by extension, with the journalistic identity of the Westfälische Nachrichten and Westfalen-Blatt."
This principled stance apparently led the publishers to forgo higher financial offers. Unlike Oldenburg's Nordwest Mediengruppe, whose owners last year sold their media assets (including the Nordwest-Zeitung) to Madsack in a competitive bidding process for seven to eight times annual earnings—thanks to strong interest from multiple suitors—the Münster partners took a different path.
Another priority was finding a buyer who would not simply absorb Aschendorff into their group for synergies but would allow a degree of editorial independence. It remains uncertain, for instance, whether the Rheinische Post will eventually supply a shared national/regional section (Mantel) to the Münsterland and East Westphalia titles.
Other potential bidders—such as Funke (publisher of the WAZ), whose proprietor Julia Becker actually resides in the circulation area, or the NOZ/mh:n Media Group (publisher of the Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung)—were never given a serious chance to make an offer. Even Mediahuis, the European conglomerate that has established a foothold in Germany with its Aachen operations and is highly active in the neighboring Netherlands, would likely have been keenly interested.
