Atex acquires Mactive: Customer reaction

Göteborgs-Posten (GP) in Sweden uses the AdBase advertising solution as well as a subscription system from Mactive. The newspaper has never had any systems from Atex, says Lennart Rosqvist, the newspaper’s IT manager. Here is his reaction about Atex’s acquisition of Mactive.

newspaper techniques: What do you expect the effect of the acquisition to be for you as a customer in terms of support, product development, etc?

Lennart Rosqvist: “We hope the effect will be solely a positive one. Our experiences working with Mactive have always been very positive, and from what I have read and heard, Atex does not intend to change what Mactive is doing or how it’s doing it – they are to maintain their close customer relationships as far as I understand.

“Atex has a strong financial position, which I hope Mactive, and GP, will benefit from. Atex states that they are going to put a lot of resources into AdBase, which we of course welcome. They do not mention the subscription system, and there are questions we would want answered, but it’s still early days and that dialogue has not yet begun.”

nt: What does the current consolidation in the supplier community mean for newspapers?

L. Rosqvist: “Consolidation and restructuring occurs in all industries. The number of suppliers to the media industry has never been that big, and of course this acquisition means a player disappears and competition decreases. For us it is important that suppliers we use work closely with the industry, maintain a good dialogue and understand our needs.”

Page first published: 23.01.2007