Mercury Buys Bauer For A Cheap $40M, Eight Years After It Was Bought For $525M

Mercury Buys Bauer For A Cheap $40M, Eight Years After It Was Bought For $525M
Ally Burnie
By Ally Burnie
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Following the news Bauer Media agreed to sell its Australian publishing business to private equity firm Mercury Captial, it has now been revealed just how much Mercury paid for the company.

As reported on the AFR, it’s believed Mercury paid less than $50M for all of Bauer’s titles, which now also include Pacific Magazine titles, too. Other sources close to the deal have suggested Mercury paid just over $40M.

The agreement also includes those brands recently acquired from Bauer’s New Zealand mastheads. 

The buying price is significantly lower than the $525 million global chief executive Yvonne Bauer bought the business for in 2012.

With a change in hands also comes a change in name, however, there is currently no indication as to what that new name will be.

The buyout comes just one month after Bauer purchased Seven West Media’s Pacific Magazines for $40 million.

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.”

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.

It’s been a rocky road for Bauer the last few years, with economic factors relating to COVID-19 putting further pressure on the publisher.

Major falls in advertising spend led Bauer to renegotiate the terms of its Pacific Mags deal, with mass redundancies and suspension of titles a result of the sale.

Around 60 jobs were cut following the sale, which is in addition to the almost 200 Pacific Magazines roles that were lost in December 2019. Bauer also axed 70 jobs before the sale was complete.

 

 

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