Hearst Magazines announced the closing of the U.S. portion of the $942 million purchase of Lagardère SCA's international magazine business in the following countries: the United States, Italy, Spain, Japan, the Netherlands, Hong Kong, Mexico, Taiwan, Canada and Germany. Finalization of the deal in Russia, Ukraine and the United Kingdom is expected shortly.
With the new acquisition, Hearst is the second largest U.S. magazine publisher after Time Inc. with 30.4 million circulation.
Hearst's CEO Frank Bennack and president David Carey in an internal memo they will aim to move the new magazines into the Hearst Tower within six to nine months.
Lagardère SCA will receive annual royalties from the use of the ELLE brand (still controlled by Lagardère) by Hearst (perpetual licence) in the following areas: magazines, Internet, mobile phones and all digital and audiovisual media.
In the U.S., Hearst gets publishing rights to Elle and Elle Decor, which will align the latter with House Beautiful and Veranda. Based on 2010 figures, these royalty payments should contribute (net of associated costs) about EUR 8 million per year.
According to MIN's June 2011 box scores, Elle Decor ranks #1 for total ad pages for the first half of 2011. Its market share for the same period is up +2.6 points to 25.7% over 2010. The magazine is number one year to date for ad pages with 524.8 pages, +10.4%.
