Mediahuis NV are the parent company of Mediahuis Ireland (formerly Independent News and Media or INM) who own the Irish Independent and the Sunday Independent, as well as The Herald, The Sunday World and 10 regional papers. They inherited major player status in the Irish print media market with the acquisition of INM from the then leading shareholders Denis O’Brien (29.99%) and Dermot Desmond (15%) for €145.6 million in April 2019.

The origins of Mediahuis Ireland can be traced back to pre-independence politics in Ireland. In 1891, following a split in the Irish Parliamentary Party, Charles Stewart Parnell, established the Irish Daily Independent to maintain a supportive media presence in the daily print market. In the event Parnell died in October 1891, two months before the first edition of the paper was published. The paper limped along after Parnell’s death and when the Irish Parliamentary Party reunited in 1900, it remained a “party press”, overtly championing IPP policies. 

In 1900, William Martin Murphy, the divisive Irish nationalist businessman, acquired the title (along with another title, The Evening Herald). In 1904, he founded a media company called Independent Newspapers Limited and in 1905 relaunched the Irish Independent as a highly commercial, non-partisan title, using the popular press model pioneered by Alfred Harmsworth (Lord Northcliffe) in the 1890s. In 1906 a Sunday title – The Sunday Independent was also launched. 

Independent Newspapers was, by circulation, the dominant Irish print group until the 1930s when it faced the challenge of the newly established Irish Press Group. Both groups vied for dominance through the 20th century and as the Press Group declined in the 1970s, Independent Newspapers became THE dominant force in the Irish print market. 

In 1973 control of INM left the Murphy family for the first time, when businessman Tony O’Reilly bought a 28% stake in the company, and became CEO and Chairperson.

O’Reilly had been a noted international Rugby Union player before arguably becoming Ireland’s highest profile (and arguably most successful) most successful industrialist in the last three decades of the 20th century. At the time of the Independent Newspapers Limited acquisition he was already the Chief Operating Officer and President of food group H.J Heinz. He would later co-establish the Fitzwilton investment vehicle, acquire Waterford Wedgewood and lead the acquisition of post-privatisation Eircom in 2001.  

O’Reilly quickly moved to expand Independent Newspapers, first adding titles to the existing stable of regional titles. The group rebranded as Independent News and Media Limited in 1973 to reflect their growing portfolio of titles. In 1981, following a stock market listing, the company became Independent News and Media (INM) Plc. 

In the 1980s and 1990s, INM aggressively moved in international markets in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and India. In 1995 it acquired the London Independent and in 2005 took a stake in the Indian newspaper. By the early 2000s  INM was considered a significant player in global print markets and arguably enjoyed the highest international profile of any Irish multinational.  As of 2007, INM owned over 200 newspapers and magazines, 130 radio stations and recorded global revenues of €1.7bn.

However, the group struggled with the impact of the 2008 financial crash as print sales collapsed. This coincided with Communicorp founder and billionaire Denis O’Brien’s gradual acquisition of the single largest stake in the group between 2006 and 2012. O’Brien gradually ousted the O’Reilly family interest in the paper with first Tony O’Reilly stepping down as CEO in 2009 followed by his son Gavin’s existing of the same position in 2012. Though not owning a majority of INM shares, Denis O’Brien was considered the single most influential shareholder able to appoint several directors to the board. 

The group continued the struggle under O’Brien’s tenure. In a bid to reduce corporate debt, INM gradually disposed of all of its international assets, reducing its total revenues to €76.5m by 2018. This left the company vulnerable to takeover and in 2019 INM was acquired by current owners Mediahuis NV, and became Mediahuis Ireland.

As Mediahuis Ireland, the group retains the largest readership in the market with over two million weekly readers (2020). Post-takeover there has been a marked shift towards a digital first approach, targeting an increase in online subscriptions. Mediahuis Ireland announced the closure of its only printing press (based in Newry in Northern Ireland) in September 2022 and in April 2023, then Mediahuis Ireland Chief Executive Peter Vandermeersch stated that he expected printed newspapers to disappear entirely within a decade. This pivot towards digital can also be seen in their expansion into the online classified advertising sector, which includes a number of car, property and recruitment platforms. Sheena Peirse took over as CEO at Mediahuis Ireland in August 2025 after Vandermeersch stood down. Peirse originally arrived at Mediahuis in 2019 just after it was acquired (as Independent News and Media) from its previous shareholders. 

Mediahuis NV, the parent company of Mediahuis Ireland, is a media conglomerate founded in 2014, after a merger by two Flemish media organizations, Corelio (who became Mediahuis Partners NV in 2019) and Concentra. VP Exploitatie, a Dutch investment firm, joined as the third shareholder in 2015. In 2022, the company reported a turnover of 1.2 billion Euros. 

Mediahuis NV has established itself as a significant player in the media landscape of Belgium, the Netherlands and beyond. Their newspapers have substantial readership, and they contribute to public discourse and news dissemination in these countries. Some of their more notable properties include De Standaard, Het Nieuwsblad, Gazet van Antwerpen and Het Belang van Limburg in Belgium, as well as NRC Handelsblad, nrc.next, and De Telegraaf in The Netherlands. Their portfolio also includes several media titles in Luxembourg, Germany, Ireland, and Northern Ireland.

In May 2023 Mediahuis acquired Euractiv, their first pan-european media network, which covers EU policy in eight broad categories: agrifood, economy, energy and environment, global Europe, health, politics, technology and transport. Euractiv’s media network spans Belgium, France, the UK, Spain, Italy, Poland, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Greece Bulgaria, Romania, Croatia, and Serbia.

Mediahuis NV’s largest shareholders include the Belgian Baert Family (29.5%) via their 90% ownership Concentra, The van Puijenbroek family (16.7%) via their 100% ownership of VP Exploitatie and Thomas Leysen (13.25%) via their 26.5.% ownership of Mediahuis Partners NV.

(Last updated in April 2026)