Indamedia received a loan of HUF 13 bn from MBH Bank prior to the purchase of Blikk

The loan is provided by MBH Bank, which is under the influence of gas fitter-turned pro-government billionaire Lőrinc Mészáros, in exchange for standard securities: the entire revenue side is pledged as collateral, meaning all current and future customer receivables, revenues and other income rights serve as bank security. Additionally, the security extends to all current and future movable assets of the company group, with a prohibition on alienation and encumbrance, meaning the collateral cannot be sold or encumbered without the bank's consent. Finally, a security deposit has been established over accounts held at the bank and possibly other institutions, which is significant because in case of non-payment, the bank can use account balances to settle the debt without a court order.

There are several connections between Miklós Vaszily and Lőrinc Mészáros:

Vaszily has been chairman of MBH Bank's supervisory board since March (and a member of the board since 2023),

which makes the loan particularly interesting. According to the Banking Act, "a senior executive may not undertake contractual obligations with the financial institution in which they serve as a board member, supervisory board member or managing director, unless the board has previously unanimously approved the conclusion of the contract." The affected person must be excluded from the preparatory and decision-making process and cannot receive a loan with more favourable conditions than the market rate. HVG contacted MBH regarding this matter.

Update: After the original publication of the HVG article, MBH Bank provided a response stating: "'MBH Bank Plc. handled the loan transaction in full compliance with the relevant legislation, including the conflict of interest and risk assumption rules for related parties as stipulated in Act CCXXXVII of 2013 on Credit Institutions and Financial Enterprises, following the procedures defined by its internal regulations. We cannot provide further information about the loan transaction due to banking secrecy restrictions."

'Foreign companies will not die for Hungarian democracy,' commented sociologist Péter Zsolt on the news of the Ringier acquisition. According to him, the quality of Hungarian public discourse after the 1989vregime change was founded on the professional standards of Western owners who appeared in the 1990s. Today, however, good models are being pushed out, and media outlets are being placed in a 'politically captured state.'

Miklós Vaszily has also been the chairman and CEO of TV2 Media Ltd since April (having been chairman of the board of directors since 2019), which is formally owned by former banker József Vida but maintains good relations with Lőrinc Mészáros. The Felcsút billionaire also has an 8 per cent ownership stake in the television company through his associated Status MPE private equity fund, and his wife, Andrea Várkonyi, is a member of the board of directors.

According to reports in the press, Indamedia, which also publishes Index and Femina, may have paid a handsome price to Swiss Ringier, whose Hungarian subsidiary achieved revenues of HUF 12.1 billion and profits of HUF 454 million in 2024.

During the year, Indamedia cleared all profits and retained earnings from its subsidiaries, approximately HUF 2 billion, and placed them in its own retained earnings, where nearly HUF 4 billion had accumulated.

After the publication of the original HVG article, Ákos Starcz, a member of Indamedia Network's board of directors, informed HVG that

they purchased Ringier at a much lower price than the hvg's original estimate of HUF 13-17 billion, and included significant equity, and thus the loan taken by Indamedia was also lower than the HUF 12.9 billion limit.

However, he could not explain why MBH Bank specified HUF 12.9 billion as the maximum amount that could be disbursed.

Three days after the acquisition announcement, on Monday, it was revealed that Iván Zsolt Nagy, editor-in-chief of Blikk, is leaving. Nagy joined Ringier Hungary as a consultant from HVG in 2024, and took over the content management of Blikk in spring 2025. Péter Szigeti, Ringier's innovation and content development manager, also departed with him.

Cover photo (for illustration purposes only): Portfolio