Early Warning System

Countries

Belgium
Netherlands

Geographic location where the impacts of the investment may be experienced.

Financial Institutions

European Investment Bank (EIB)

International, regional and national development finance institutions. Many of these banks have a public interest mission, such as poverty reduction.

Project Status

Approved

Stage of the project cycle. Stages vary by development bank and can include: pending, approval, implementation, and closed or completed.

Bank Risk Rating

Environmental and social categorization assessed by the development bank as a measure of the planned project’s environmental and social impacts. A higher risk rating may require more due diligence to limit or avoid harm to people and the environment. For example, "A" or "B" are risk categories where "A" represents the highest amount of risk. Results will include projects that specifically recorded a rating, all other projects are marked ‘U’ for "Undisclosed."

Voting Date

Dec 19, 2024

Date when project documentation and funding is reviewed by the Board for consideration and approval. Some development banks will state a "board date" or "decision date." When funding approval is obtained, the legal documents are accepted and signed, the implementation phase begins.

Borrower

DPG MEDIA GROUP NV; DPG MEDIA NV

A public entity (government or state-owned) provided with funds or financial support to manage and/or implement a project.

Sectors

Communications
Industry and Trade

The service or industry focus of the investment. A project can have several sectors.

Investment Type(s)

Loan

The categories of the bank investment: loan, grant, guarantee, technical assistance, advisory services, equity and fund.

Investment Amount (USD)

$ 124.37 million

Value listed on project documents at time of disclosure. If necessary, this amount is converted to USD ($) on the date of disclosure. Please review updated project documents for more information.
Currency conversion note:
Bank reported 120
Converted using 2024-12-19 exchange rate.

Project Cost (USD)

$ 406.29 million

Bank Documents

Environmental and Social Data Sheet (ESDS) - MEDIA DIGITAL ACCELERATION

Media Documents

Belgium: DPG Media signs new loan agreement with EIB

Primary Source

Original disclosure @ EIB website

Updated in EWS Jul 18, 2025

Disclosed by Bank Jan 14, 2025

Contribute Information
Can you contribute information about this project?
Contact the EWS Team

Project Description

If provided by the financial institution, the Early Warning System Team writes a short summary describing the purported development objective of the project and project components. Review the complete project documentation for a detailed description.

According to the Bank’s website, the project concerns the promoter's investments in Research, Development and Innovation (RDI) as well as digitalization of media services and operations in Belgium and the Netherlands over the period 2024-26.

The aim is to support the promoter's continuous efforts to maintain its competitive position by investing in innovation and digitalisation, improving the quality and functionality of various platforms, supporting personalized and interactive content, and increasing efficiency and impact across all business areas.

Early Warning System Project Analysis

For a project with severe or irreversible impacts to local community and natural resources, the Early Warning System Team may conduct a thorough analysis regarding its potential impacts to human and environmental rights.

The proposed RDI activities will take place mainly inside buildings at existing company offices already being used for similar activities and are not expected to have a significant environmental impact on the surroundings.

Investment Description

Here you can find a list of individual development financial institutions that finance the project.

European Investment Bank (EIB)

A lending agreement.

Private Actors Description

A Private Actor is a non-governmental body or entity that is the borrower or client of a development project, which can include corporations, private equity and banks. This describes the private actors and their roles in relation to the project, when private actor information is disclosed or has been further researched.

DPG Media Group is an international media group, which is active in the Belgian, Dutch and Danish markets, and is headquarted in Antwerp. DPG Media Group has a workforce of 5,396 employees and a portfolio of 90 strong publishing, broadcasting and services brands. Every day, the DPG Media Group brands reach a total of 15 million media users, both online and offline.

Private Actor 1	Private Actor 1 Role	Private Actor 1 Sector	Relation	Private Actor 2	Private Actor 2 Role	Private Actor 2 Sector
-	-	-	-	DPG MEDIA GROUP NV	Client	-

Contact Information

This section aims to support the local communities and local CSO to get to know which stakeholders are involved in a project with their roles and responsibilities. If available, there may be a complaint office for the respective bank which operates independently to receive and determine violations in policy and practice. Independent Accountability Mechanisms receive and respond to complaints. Most Independent Accountability Mechanisms offer two functions for addressing complaints: dispute resolution and compliance review.

Contact: Tim Smit
Email: t.smit@eib.org
Phone: + 352 4379 – 89076

ACCESS TO INFORMATION

You can submit an information request for project information at: https://www.eib.org/en/infocentre/registers/request-form/request-form-default.htm

ACCOUNTABILITY MECHANISM OF EIB

The EIB Complaints Mechanism is designed to facilitate and handle complaints against the EIB by individuals, organizations or corporations affected by EIB activities. When exercising the right to lodge a complaint against the EIB, any member of the public has access to a two-tier procedure, one internal - the Complaints Mechanism Office - and one external - the European Ombudsman. A complaint can be lodged via a written communication addressed to the Secretary General of the EIB, via email to the dedicated email address: complaints@eib.org, by completing the online complaint form available at the following address: http://www.eib.org/complaints/form via fax or delivered directly to the EIB Complaints Mechanism Division, any EIB local representation office or any EIB staff. For further details, check: http://www.eib.org/attachments/strategies/complaints_mechanism_policy_en.pdf

When dissatisfied with a complaint to the EIB Complaints Mechanism, citizens can then turn towards the European Ombudsman. A memorandum of Understanding has been signed between the EIB and the European Ombudsman establishes that citizens (even outside of the EU if the Ombudsman finds their complaint justified) can turn towards the Ombudsman on issues related to 'maladministration' by the EIB. Note that before going to the Ombudsman, an attempt must be made to resolve the case by contacting the EIB. In addition, the complaint must be made within two years of the date when the facts on which your complaint is based became known to you. You can write to the Ombudsman in any of the languages of the European Union. Additional details, including filing requirements and complaint forms, are available at: http://www.ombudsman.europa.eu/atyourservice/interactiveguide.faces