Nassif predicts the death of Editora Abril.

Journalist Luis Nassif, from the GGN newspaper, listed several mistakes made by Editora Abril, which owns Veja magazine, to justify why, in his opinion, the group is close to bankruptcy. He cited as an example the initiative to set up a call center to handle calls, "instead of partnering with small providers in the interior, as UOL did"; he recalled that the group attempted success in the educational field, but Roberto Civita "failed due to poor executive choices"; "The death of Roberto Civita prevented adjustments to Veja's strategy," he added; "Now, the adventure of the most important magazine publisher in the country is nearing its end."

July 24, 2016, 23:33 pmUpdated June 29, 2018, 14:58 pm

Journalist Luis Nassif, from the GGN newspaper, listed some mistakes made by Editora Abril, which owns Veja magazine, to justify why, in his opinion, the group is close to bankruptcy; he cited as an example the initiative to set up a telephone exchange to handle calls, "instead of partnerships with small providers in the interior, as UOL did"; he recalled that the group tried to succeed in the educational field, but Roberto Civita "failed due to the poor choice of executives"; "The death of Roberto Civita prevented adjustments from being made to Veja's strategy," he adds; "Now, the adventure of the most important magazine publisher in the country is nearing its end" (Photo: Leonardo Lucena)

247 - Journalist Luis Nassif, from the newspaper GGN, listed some mistakes made by Editora Abril, which includes Revista Veja, to justify why, in his opinion, the group is close to bankruptcy. In an analysis published this Sunday (24), he cited as an example the group's initiative "to intend to set up a real telephone exchange to handle calls, instead of partnerships with small providers in the interior, as UOL did".

"And also the idea of standardizing magazines, transforming BOL into a huge standardized magazine. Nothing that couldn't be corrected, without taking away from BOL the merit of being a pioneer and having the largest collection of publications on the young Brazilian Internet," he says.

According to the text, "unable to make progress on any digital front, Abril concentrated its efforts on the educational sector. It acquired publishing houses that sold textbooks primarily to the Ministry of Education and course materials to states and municipalities, leveraging Veja's political influence and its subscription sales structure to try to establish itself."

However, "Civita failed miserably due to poor executive choices," according to the journalist's assessment. "The sale of the educational division left the family with cash. But with little willingness to invest in an unviable company. A process of transferring shares to the Argentinian group Caras then began."

"Despite the obvious protection received from the Federal Public Prosecutor's Office in the Carlinhos Cachoeira case, the transfer could constitute tax evasion. The family reversed its strategy and ended up contributing R$ 450 million, the only way for creditors to agree to refinance the debts, keeping the company's vital signs afloat," says Nassif.

"On the other hand, Roberto Civita's death prevented adjustments from being made to Veja's editorial line. Only on the eve of its closure did the family take steps to try to restore the magazine's journalism, an impossible task: the magazine became a hostage of the mob it helped create," he adds. "Now, the adventure of the country's most important magazine publisher is nearing its end."

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