Styria Media Group

Styria Media Group

Styria Media Group was founded in Graz in 1869 by the Katholischer Medien Verein, a Catholic media association, to publish a daily newspaper aligned with Christian values. The firm today is owned by the Katholischer Medien Verein Privatstiftung, a private foundation in which the Diocese of Graz-Seckau holds co-determination rights over board appointments. CEO Markus Mair has led the group since 2013 and also served as President of VÖZ, Austria's newspaper industry association. The group operates across three segments. Its media division includes the daily Kleine Zeitung, one of Austria's largest regional newspapers, and a 50% stake in Regionalmedien Austria AG through a joint venture with Moser Holding AG. The digital division is anchored by willhaben.at, Austria's leading online classifieds marketplace. In 2025, Styria acquired full ownership of willhaben.at in a deal involving Sprints Capital as a strategic co-investor (per public record, 2025). The group also owns a printing division with industrial facilities in Graz-Messendorf, St. Veit an der Glan, and Zagreb, Croatia, serving both internal and third-party publishing clients. Geographically, the business is concentrated in Austria, with secondary operations in Croatia and neighboring markets. Styria operates commercial real estate through its Styria Media Center in Graz, and maintains active membership in WAN-IFRA, the global news publishing network. The group's total headcount and deployment figures are not publicly disclosed. In 2025, the firm consolidated control of willhaben.at by acquiring the remaining stake, signaling a strategic pivot toward digital marketplace dominance alongside its legacy print operations. Structurally, the group is distinct for combining a commercially run media conglomerate with a governance framework that gives a Catholic diocese binding influence over foundation board appointments — a hybrid of secular media management and ecclesiastical oversight uncommon in European media holdings.