Meredith to purchase Gruner + Jahr

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WSJ.com - Meredith Agrees to Buy Gruner + Jahr Magazines:


Meredith Corp. agreed to buy Parents, Child, Fitness and Family Circle magazines for $350 million from Bertelsmann AG's Gruner + Jahr unit.

Germany-based Gruner + Jahr will have an option until June 30 to sell business publications Inc. and Fast Company to Meredith. If Meredith buys them, it plans to then sell them, without a material impact on the overall purchase price, the publisher said today.

“Parents, Child, Fitness and Family Circle are established and well-known consumer magazines that will benefit greatly from Meredith's proven editorial, circulation, sales, database and brand-building expertise,” said Meredith Chairman and Chief Executive Officer William T. Kerr in a news release. “These titles have significant upside but have underperformed in recent years.”

Meredith, an Iowa-based publishing and TV concern, owns magazines such as Better Homes and Gardens, Ladies Home Journal and American Baby.
...
The additions would increase Meredith's combined circulation to nearly 30 million, making it the second-largest consumer-magazine publisher in the U.S. Meredith's advertising pages would increase by 60% to nearly 13,000 and publishing group revenue would increase by about $300 million to more than $1.2 billion, a gain of 33%.

Gruner + Jahr's U.S. operations are the sixth-biggest magazine publisher in the U.S. The move, which comes after a series of recent setbacks, including an ugly court battle with Rosie O'Donnell and revelations that Gruner + Jahr executives manipulated circulation figures, amounts to a tacit admission that the company's longstanding goal of conquering the U.S. has failed.


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This page contains a single entry by Seth A. published on May 24, 2005 11:49 AM.

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