Lausanne Cités

What Lausanne Cités does

Lausanne Cités, legally LC Lausanne Cités SA, is a Swiss société anonyme that publishes a free weekly local newspaper serving the Lausanne agglomeration and Canton of Vaud, including the districts of Morges, Rolle, and Aubonne. The publication traces its origins to Lausanne-Informations, launched by SPN SA in September 1976, and adopted its current form on March 6, 1980, when Lausanne-Informations merged with the competing 24 Cités to create the weekly title. As of 2024, the newspaper prints 173,000 copies at CIL in Bussigny, reaches 105,000 weekly readers at its core audience and up to 185,000 at its widest measured reach (REMP MACH BASIC 2023-2 study), and is described as a quasi-institutional publication read across all demographics in Vaud.

The company's product portfolio combines print and digital inventory. Core products are the weekly print newspaper and the lausannecites.ch web portal (over 2 million annual page visits), with classified ads (Petites Annonces) appearing simultaneously in print and online via the shared ghi.ch/pa.ghi.ch platform. Commercial products include display advertising in various formats, special placements (covers, back pages, premium positions), catalog and flyer inserts distributed with the newspaper, and digital web products (banners, skyscrapers, carousels). The Léman Combi+ combination bundles Lausanne Cités with GHI (Geneva) and Le Régional (Lavaux/Riviera) to deliver 567,000 copies across the Lémanic Arc to national advertisers. Technology is built on third-party infrastructure: Google Analytics, Net-Metrix, and DoubleClick (via Goldbach Audience) for analytics and ad serving; PostFinance, Mastercard, Visa, and American Express for payment processing; and a shared classified ads platform with GHI.

Revenue is generated almost entirely through advertising and classified ad placements. Commercial advertising (print and digital display, special placements, inserts) is sold via an inside sales team with volume-based contracts and discounts. Classified ads are priced per word (CHF 1.30 incl. VAT for private; CHF 1.77 excl. VAT for commercial), with optional photo supplements and bundled print+digital placement. Pricing is publicly disclosed for classifieds; commercial rates are available on request. The company is privately held with a dual ownership structure — SPN SA holds 50% since 1995, with Edipresse holding the remainder — and operates with a lean team of approximately 7-10 employees led by General Director Pascal Fleury and Editor-in-Chief Fabio Bonavita.

Name

Lausanne Cités

Legal name

LC Lausanne Cités SA

Website

https://lausannecites.ch

Company type

Private

Founded year

1980

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Lausanne Cités is a free weekly Swiss newspaper (LC Lausanne Cités SA) serving Lausanne and Vaud, distributing 173,000 print copies weekly and operating a companion digital portal, generating revenue primarily through commercial advertising, classified ads, and inserts.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Lausanne

HQ country

Switzerland

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Commercial Advertising: Commercial print and digital advertisements including display ads, banners, skyscrapers, and special placements in the weekly newspaper. Advertisers can purchase volume-based contracts with discounts.
2. Classified Ads (Petites Annonces): Private and commercial classified ads sold by word count, with optional photo supplements. Ads appear in both print and digital versions simultaneously.
3. Insert Advertising (Encarts): Catalog and flyer inserts distributed with the newspaper, targeting all households in distribution area with high reader engagement rates.
4. Digital/Web Products: Online advertising products including web banners, carousels for highlighted classified ads, and digital-only placements.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Lausanne Cités publishes a free weekly local newspaper covering Lausanne and the Vaud canton, distributed free of charge to 173,000 households every Wednesday with print run printed at CIL in Bussigny. It sells commercial display advertising (banners, special placements, inserts) and operates the Petites Annonces classified ads service (real estate, vehicles, employment, social, vacations) available simultaneously in print and on lausannecites.ch and ghi.ch. The company also offers the Léman Combi / Léman Combi+ combined advertising package with GHI and Le Régional covering 567,000 copies across the Lake Geneva arc.

Product overview

Lausanne Cités operates as a weekly free local newspaper distributed in Lausanne and the Canton of Vaud region, founded in 1976 and published since March 6, 1980. The company offers a multi-platform portfolio consisting of a print weekly newspaper (with 173,000 copies printed at CIL in Bussigny), a companion digital website (www.lausannecites.ch with over 2 million annual page visits), and a comprehensive classified advertising service. The print and digital products are sold together as a bundled package, with classified ads appearing simultaneously in both the print edition and online platforms (lausannecites.ch and partner site ghi.ch). The company also offers commercial advertising solutions including display ads, inserts/catalogs, and special placements, as well as the Léman Combi combined advertising product with GHI newspaper.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Lausanne Cités Print Newspaper Weekly free local newspaper distributed to households in Lausanne and Vaud region, covering local news, society, culture, leisure, health and wellness. Printed at CIL in Bussigny with a circulation of 173,000 copies.
• Lausanne Cités Website (lausannecites.ch) Digital companion to the print newspaper featuring news articles, photo galleries, event calendars, and classified advertisements. Attracts over 2 million page visits annually.
• Petites Annonces (Classified Ads) Comprehensive classified advertising service spanning real estate, vehicles, employment, two-wheelers, social networking, vacations, and nautical categories. Ads appear in both print and online (lausannecites.ch and ghi.ch) with combined package pricing.
• Commercial Ads (Annonces Commerciales) Display advertising in various column-width and millimeter formats for businesses and organizations targeting the Lausanne and Vaud readership. Volume-based contracts with discounts available.
• Web Products (Banners, Skyscrapers, Passerelles) Digital advertising products including banner ads, skyscraper formats, and pass-through links available for purchase to accompany print advertising campaigns.
• Special Placements (Emplacements Spéciaux) Premium advertising placement options including covers, back pages, and special positions within the print publication at surcharge rates.
• Catalog and Flyer Inserts (Encartage) Brochure and catalog insertion service distributing marketing materials directly to households via the newspaper's distribution network, covering the entire Léman Arc region.
• Léman Combi / Léman Combi+ Combined Advertising Package Combined advertising package offering simultaneous placement in Lausanne Cités, GHI Geneva, and Le Régional newspapers, covering the entire Léman Arc with 567,000 distributed copies.
• Announcement Carousel Featured announcements display carousel on the website homepage for highlighting premium classified listings at a reduced price.

Quantifiable outcome

• 173,000 print copies distributed weekly
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration7 records

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• Le RégionalminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 1 January 2008Partnership with Le Régional, a free newspaper covering Lavaux and Riviera regions, to create Léman Combi+ combination advertising package.
• SPN SA (Société de Publications Nouvelles SA)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 1995SPN SA is the parent company and co-founder of Lausanne Cités. Originally launched Lausanne Cités with Edipresse partnership, SPN SA took 50% stake in 1995. SPN SA also operates GHI newspaper in Geneva and provides advertising network services.
• Bénévolat VaudminorGTM or Marketing PartnerEditorial partnership with Bénévolat Vaud for volunteer-related content.
• ProximmominorGTM or Marketing PartnerEditorial partnership with Proximmo, a real estate agency.
• economiesuisseminorGTM or Marketing PartnerEditorial partnership for economic content with economiesuisse.
• SWISS WINEminorGTM or Marketing PartnerEditorial partnership with SWISS WINE for wine-related content.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves11 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Regional players

• Le Nouvelliste: Regional newspaper for Valais canton with print and digital editions. Comparable in structure (regional newspaper + digital) but operates in a different Swiss canton.
• La Gruyère: Free regional newspaper covering the Gruyère district in Canton Fribourg. Operates a similar free weekly model with print and digital components, but serves a different geographic territory.

Broad incumbents

• Tribune de Genève: Geneva-based regional daily from Tamedia. While primarily covering Geneva, it overlaps with Lémans Combi+ coverage and competes for advertising in the broader Lémansic Arc region.
• Blick: Switzerland's largest German-language tabloid. While language and geography differ, Blick competes for the same local advertising budgets in Vaud-adjacent regions and represents a major digital news competitor for audience attention.
• 24 heures: Main regional paid newspaper for the Vaud/Lausanne region, published by Tamedia. Direct competitor for Vaud local news coverage and local advertising, with much larger editorial and digital resources.
• MIGROS Magazine: Switzerland's largest magazine by circulation, distributed via the Migros retail network. Overlaps with Lausanne Cités on insert advertising and regional SMB advertising reach, though at a national scale.
• 20 Minutes (Switzerland): Largest free daily newspaper in Switzerland, with strong Lausanne and Vaud presence. Competes for the same local advertising budgets and reader attention, but operates at significantly greater scale and frequency.

Direct peers

• Le Régional: Free weekly newspaper covering Lavaux and Riviera regions in Vaud. Lémans Combi+ partner alongside Lausanne Cités and GHI, with overlapping distribution and similar SMB advertiser target base.
• GHI (Genève Home Informations): Weekly free newspaper covering Geneva, published by SPN SA (the same parent that holds 50% of Lausanne Cités). Together they form the Lémans Combi+ combined advertising network, making GHI the closest comparably structured direct peer.

Others

• Goldbach Audience (Switzerland) AG: Swiss digital advertising sales house and Lausanne Cités' technology partner for Doubleclick banner advertising. Different business model (advertising infrastructure provider rather than publisher), but ecosystem partner and relevant for Swiss digital ad market context.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/LausanneCites
• Facebookfacebook.com/LausanneCites
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/lc-lausanne-cit%C3%A9s

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles12 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Lausanne Cités