Bauer Media today announced it has agreed to sell its Australian publishing business to Mercury Capital.
Mercury Capital will acquire all of Bauer Media Australia’s print and digital assets, which cover Women’s Entertainment & Lifestyle; Fashion, Beauty & Health; Homes; Food; Motoring & Trader lifestyle categories.
The agreement also includes those brands recently acquired by Bauer from Pacific Magazines and Bauer’s New Zealand mastheads.
Veit Dengler, Bauer Media COO said: “Bauer Media remains committed to magazine publishing. This decision supports our strategy to invest in our market leading brands where we believe we are best placed to do so.”
“We have been proud to be the custodian of these iconic brands in Australia. I would like to thank our talented teams for their commitment and the contribution they have made to Bauer Media. I wish them well for the future.”
Brendon Hill, Bauer Media ANZ CEO, said: “This signals an exciting new chapter for the business. With new ownership and our bolstered portfolio, we have unparalleled opportunities to connect with more Australians than ever before and continue our strategy of digital growth and innovation.
“We have increased flexibility to diversify revenue streams and grow and innovate across our multi-platform offerings. Additionally, we are well placed to invest in the key drivers of future success – high-quality content and digital development which is good for us, our audiences, clients and the Australian industry as a whole.”
Bauer’s expanded portfolio of 43 brands now reaches six in ten Australian women each month; more than 6.5 million women each month across magazines, websites, video, social, customer review sites, podcasts and experiences; a print readership of 6.8 million per year and social connections of more than 30.5 million.
“Despite the challenges presented by COVID-19, we have seen significant growth in subscriptions and digital audiences across our food, home, youth and fashion brands, demonstrating that Australians still love and read our brands. We have seen great vision, success and growth under Bauer Media Group ownership and now look forward to working alongside Mercury Capital to build on this growth under a new brand in the future,” Hill said.
The sale is subject to regulatory approval with the transaction expected to be complete in mid-July and the new brand to be announced in the coming months.
