The story
Founded by Angelo Rizzoli in 1986, in Milan.1
Entrepreneur Angelo Rizzoli founded A. Rizzoli & C. in 1927. The company initially focused on the press industry, acquiring four national magazines before expanding into publishing. The company underwent multiple restructurings and changes in ownership, notably during the 1980s when two of its executives were implicated in the collapse of Banco Ambrosiano and the illegal Masonic Lodge Propaganda Due – or P2. Following the 1982 death of Roberto Calvi, the group applied for bankruptcy protection and greatly downsized.
In 2016, Cairo Communication acquired the controlling stake of RCS MediaGroup. In the same year, Italian Competition Authority approved the sales of RCS Libri (a.k.a. Rizzoli Libri) from RCS MediaGroup to Arnoldo Mondadori Editore.
Timeline
The timeline of the company:
1927 – Angelo Rizzoli launches publishing activities at his printing company "A. Rizzoli & C."
1952 – company was renamed "Rizzoli Editore"
1974 – company purchased "Editoriale Corriere della Sera S.a.s.", which publishes the daily newspaper Il Corriere della Sera
1976 – company took over management of La Gazzetta dello Sport
1984 – Gemina acquired controlling holding of Rizzoli
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1990 – acquisition of holding in Spanish company Unidad Editorial S.A., the present day holding of which is 96.1%
1997 – "Rizzoli-Corriere della Sera" was separated from Gemina’s other industrial activities, which were transferred to the new holding company HdP
2000 – acquisition of French publishing house Editions Flammarion
2001 – creation of Fondazione Corriere della Sera
2002 – acquisition of holding in Dada S.p.A., which at present stands at 46.54%
2003 – company was renamed "RCS MediaGroup"
2006 – acquisition of first holding in Digicast, which is now a wholly owned subsidiary
2007 – acquisition, through Unidad Editorial, of Spanish publishing group Recoletos Grupo de Comunicaciòn
2007 – acquisition of 34.6% of Finelco Group
2008 – acquisition, through Unidad Editorial, of 100% of VEO Television (already held at 55,4%)
2012 – divestiture of Flammarion to Éditions Gallimard
2013 – In June 2013, the media group accepted an undisclosed offer from PRS S.r.l. to buy 14 magazines, it had put up for sale as part of its restructuring plan. In July, sold Dada S.p.A.
2014 – In September 2014, RCS MediaGroup in association with Playtech launched an online sport betting portal under the brand GazzaBet.
2015 – Sold RCS Libri
From Wikipedia’s article on RCS MediaGroup, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4