The Press Association acquires Meteo Consult B.V.

The Press Association, the national news agency of the UK and Ireland, has acquired Meteo Consult B.V, Europe’s largest independent weather business.

Meteo Consult is a leading supplier of weather information to marine, road maintenance and industrial customers, as well as newspaper, TV and radio markets across Europe.  Founded in 1986, the company has an excellent reputation for quality and innovation in weather forecasting.

Meteo Consult is headquartered in the Netherlands with subsidiary companies in Belgium, Germany and Spain and associate companies in Sweden, UK and the US.

The Press Association is the UK's leading multimedia news and information provider, supplying business-to-business media services to the media industry and commercial organisations.

Meteo Consult founder, Harry Otten will remain a Director and minority shareholder in the business and Jennie Campbell, a Divisional MD at The Press Association, will join Meteo Consult as Managing Director.

The Press Association and Meteo Consult have worked together since 1997 in a successful joint venture in the UK, PA WeatherCentre Ltd. Combining the meteorological skills of Meteo Consult with the packaging and delivery skills of The Press Association, PA WeatherCentre has developed into a leading weather services provider with a particularly strong position in the winter road maintenance and media markets.

Commenting on the acquisition, Harry Otten said: "I am delighted to welcome The Press Association as the majority shareholder in Meteo Consult. The Press Association’s involvement with the business will help us to accelerate our growth into international markets, with their help we aim to be one of the top three weather companies in the world."

Paul Potts, Chief Executive and Editor-in-Chief of The Press Association will join the Meteo Consult Board as Chairman. Mr Potts said: "We have worked with Meteo Consult for some years and recognise that their skills in the provision of premium information services fit well with The Press Association’s brand of fast, fair and accurate information. This acquisition takes us further in our ambition to become a diversified information business and continue our growth into international markets."
 

Notes to Editors

About The Press Association

The Press Association is a customer-focused group of news, information and communications businesses and the UK’s leading provider of real time news and sports information. As the national news agency for the UK and Ireland, The Press Association is at the heart of the media industry, supplying services to every national and regional daily newspaper, broadcasters, online publishers and a wide range of commercial organisations. The Press Association is a private company with 27 shareholders, most of whom are national and regional newspaper publishers.  The biggest shareholders are Associated Newspaper Holdings Limited, News International plc, Trinity Mirror plc and United Business Media plc. Founded in 1868, The Press Association has an unrivalled reputation for providing fast, fair and accurate information.  Visit The Press Association website for more information at www.pa.press.net About Meteo ConsultMeteo Consult is Europe's leading private weather company.  With its headquarters in The Netherlands, Meteo Consult operates throughout Europe with sister companies in Germany, Belgium, Sweden, Spain and the USA. Meteo Consult has extensive broadcast experience, supplying weather graphics and text to more than a dozen major television stations throughout Europe including RTL & NTV in Germany, RTL in The Netherlands, SFDRS in Switzerland, VTM in Belgium, TF1 and Canal + in France.  The company provides weather services to a variety of European radio stations and 70% of the Dutch newspaper industry.  Meteo Consult, in partnership with its sister company Meteo Graphics in Berlin, is also a leading provider of mobile services and the preferred supplier for all operators in the Netherlands. The company’s GPRS weather services are currently available on more than 20 platforms in the UK, Netherlands, Germany, Portugal, Spain and Italy.Other business-to-business markets include a wide range of marine, industrial and winter highways maintenance customers. More than 500 ships worldwide are equipped with Meteo Consult’s Performance Optimization System, calculating the fastest and safest shipping routes.In business to consumer markets, Meteo Consult has a 90% brand recognition rate among consumers in the Netherlands as a supplier of weather information services. Meteo Consult currently employs 25 full time forecasters at its headquarters in the Netherlands, providing forecasts, support, monitoring and consultancy services 24\7 and a dedicated weather modeling team developing the company’s in-house systems and forecasting techniques.Press Contact DetailsElizabeth CastleExternal Communications ManagerThe Press AssociationTel: 020 7963 7528Mob: 07971 611482Email: elizabeth.castle@pa.press.net