Seven completes sale of Pacific Magazines to Bauer
Despite a number of roadblocks along the way, Seven West Media (SWM) has completed its sale of magazine publisher Pacific Magazines to German-owned publisher Bauer Media.
A final price of $40m in cash consideration was handed over today, as well as $6.6m in advertising over three years in Bauer publications.
SWM CEO and managing director James Warburton said the sale forms part of the ongoing ‘transformation’ of the media company.
“We welcome today’s completion of the sale of Pacific Magazines to Bauer Media. The completion of this transaction is a key step as we work to transform SWM,” said Warburton.
“I want to thank all the staff at Pacific for their passion, commitment and tireless work over the years at SWM.”
Bauer Australia CEO Brendon Hill said the merger is what the industry needs.
“We are extremely pleased to complete the purchase of Pacific Magazines. It will drive the consolidation publishing needs right now to be competitive at what is a very challenging time for our industry. We welcome the Pacific staff to the Bauer Group and look forward to working with them.
“The economic impact of COVID-19 is affecting the entire media industry but by combining Pacific Magazines with Bauer Media Australia, it will create a stronger business with the capabilities to better compete in a digital world.
“The Pacific brands have unique audiences and our combined digital reach will be compelling. We look forward to emerging from the other side of COVID-19 to drive innovation and maximise reach and engagement with our audiences” said Hill.
There were some concerns over whether the sale would go through following a delay which saw SWM instigate court proceedings against Bauer Media. SWM insisted the action was part of the ‘normal’ sale process.
Bauer also hasn’t had an easy journey to the sale, with the publisher making 70 staff members redundant this week following the suspension of several of its print titles. It has also closed its New Zealand operations.
The sale also seemed to be threatened by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) early on, with the watchdog seeming to have concerns about what the market would look like if two of Australia’s biggest publishers were to merge. However, the sale was approved ahead of deadline, giving the businesses a greenlight to complete the process.
As of yet it isn’t clear whether the merger will impact any magazine titles, although the duo do have several similar publications.
No mention of the 50 odd staff that lost their jobs at Pacific yesterday who are not going to Bauer after 6 months of uncertainty?
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Just how Bauer will integrate Pacific Mags is going to be interesting to watch. Bold predictions: some of the titles won’t survive and some may be merged; e.g. Woman’s New Idea Day (do you remember The Daily Telegraph Mirror). TV Week will have to broaden its market to embrace the whole of the digital age. Both Bauer and SWM have got what they want. Hopefully this monopolistic aggregation will work for both readers and Bauer staff. But there will be more pink slips before it is over.
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What an absolute shit show of a merger.
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All this talk of digital competitiveness.
Now watch the former Pacific titles’ web traffic plunge to the abysmal levels of Now To Love.
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Good heavens – if New Idea and Woman’s Day merge. How will they cope with space, with two lots of untruths printed in one mag!
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Now To Watch Now To Love
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Not 50 odd staff, add the other 140 staff who worked for Impact Merchandising which was also part of Pacific – the forgotten people !! 130 merchandisers who were casual lost their jobs on the 30th April and the other 10 permanent staff were made redundant on the 1st May as part of the sale.
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