Edipresse and Virtual Network are joining forces to create Romandie Online

29.09.2006, Lausanne, The Edipresse Group has just signed an agreement in principle to acquire 20% of the share capital of the internet publisher Virtual Network SA. Edipresse will have an option to increase its shareholding to 40% by the end of 2010. The transaction is expected to be effective in January 2007.

Edipresse and Virtual Network have also decided to join forces in the Swiss-French market by creating an online advertising sales structure. This structure will be operational from 1 January 2007 and will market the Swiss audience of Edipresse’s and Virtual Network’s websites, with the strategic aims of enhancing professionalism and increasing online advertising market share.

Under the proposed name of Romandie Online, 16 sites will be marketed, including Romandie.com, Lematin.ch, Tdg.ch, 24heures.ch, Humour.com, Jeux.com, Edicom.ch, Femina.ch and will total more than 50 million page views per month, in other words the largest audience in French-speaking Switzerland at the present time.

Through its offices in Nyon and Zürich, Romandie Online will offer advertisers targeted thematic packages, as well as packages for the general public.

For Tibère Adler, CEO of Edipresse: “This link-up confirms our increased focus on digital media. We will include the founders of Virtual Network in our overall strategic thought process concerning opportunities in the field of new information technologies”.

Stefan Renninger, one of the founders of Virtual Networks added “We are delighted to have a new shareholder of reference and to be joining together to respond to the strong growth of the Swiss online advertising market. The latter is now a standard element of media campaigns and should continue to take off in coming years”.

Concerning the Edipresse Group The Edipresse Group is a quoted, Lausanne-based (Switzerland) media and communication company. It publishes more than 160 magazines and newspapers in 18 countries, including Switzerland, Spain, Portugal, Poland, Ukraine, Russia, Romania, France, China and various other Asian countries. Edipresse is active in the Swiss online market with its many sites linked to its titles and its shareholdings in the Homegate.ch (real estate), Swissfriends.ch (dating) and JobUp.ch (employment) websites.

Concerning Virtual Network Founded in 1999 by Stephan Pictet and Stefan Renninger, Virtual Network is a company based in Nyon (Switzerland). It publishes a network of vertical portals in the French- speaking market, including in particular Romandie.com, Annonces.com, Humour.com, Jeux.com and Musique.com. In August 2006, the net audience of the Virtual Network sites amounted to 185 million page views for 13.6 million visits (source: Médiamétrie).

Sites marketed under Romandie Online: www.romandie.com, www.jeux.com, www.humour.com, www.musique.com, www.romandie.fm, www.aufeminin.ch, www.24heures.ch, www.tdg.ch, www.lematin.ch, www.edicom.ch, www.femina.ch, www.bilan.ch, www.zannonces.ch, www.bleublog.ch, www.terrenature.ch, www.swissfriends.ch.

For further information, please contact:

Tibère Adler, CEO Edipresse Tel. +41 (0)21 349 45 18, tibere.adler@edipresse.ch www.edipresse.com

Stefan Renninger, Director Virtual Network Tel. +41 (0)22 994 55 22, stefan@virtual-network.com www.virtual-network.com

Über Edipresse Services SA:

Edipresse Group is owned by Lamunière family. Its main activities are media, digital ventures and real estate.

Edipresse Group is present in 10 countries and territories in Europe and in Asia.

Driven by a strong entrepreneurial spirit, Edipresse Group focuses its development efforts on high-potential markets with the ambition to be a leader in each activity. Business is conducted in view of long-term value creation.

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