It has been clear in the industry for years that Publicitas has problems with its cash flow and is on the verge of collapse. The outstanding invoices of small publishers have not been paid for months, and those of the large publishers are regularly paid far too late.
For those outside the industry, it should be uk rcs data mentioned here that Publicitas made its customers' advertising bookings with the publishers in their names, but invoiced the customers for the services themselves and only paid the publishers after payment. For whatever reason (there are different stories about this), Publicitas got into a spiral of chronic lack of money. The publishers' outstanding claims had long been higher than liquidity, former employees confirmed. Publicitas lived from hand to mouth, so to speak, and kept creditors at bay with lots of promises.
Now Tamedia has lost its patience and has triggered an avalanche. Shortly after Tamedia, Ringier, Ringier Axel Springer Switzerland and Admeira also realized that in this race only the fastest (and loudest) will get their outstanding bills paid. The NZZ has now followed suit ( persoenlich.com reported ).