Aussie mags, including Women’s Weekly, up for sale

The ideal buyers will take on all of Are Media’s assets, which include Australian Women’s Weekly, ELLE, marie claire, Better Homes and Garden, WHO, Woman’s Day, House & Garden and Gourmet Traveller.

Are Media’s bestsellers include the perennial The Australian Women's Weekly, Country Living and Home Beautiful.

A group of Australia’s biggest magazines – including Australian Women’s Weekly and Woman’s Day – is up for sale, as the sector continues to struggle with declining ad revenue and an uneasy transition to the digital age.

Private equity investor Mercury Capital, which owns magazine publisher Are Media, on Thursday signalled its intention to offload the stable of titles.

Running the sale process for the magazines is KPMG. The ideal buyers will take on all the assets, which include Australian Women’s Weekly, ELLE, marie claire, Better Homes and Garden, WHO, Woman’s Day, House & Garden and Gourmet Traveller.

Having to break up the business and sell title by title would be the less attractive option.

It is believed the sale document available to prospective purchasers points to strong cash flow and dividends that Mercury Capital has received over the past five years.

Mercury is also claiming it is under no pressure to make a quick sale and will do so only if a compelling offer is made.

Are Media CEO Jane Huxley. Picture: Supplied

In 2020, Mercury Capital is believed to have paid less than $50m for what was then Bauer Media Australia & New Zealand and Pacific Magazines.

The bleak sector outlook at the time saw owners Bauer Media in Germany and Seven West Media exit the industry in a hurry with the best deal they could get.

According to ASIC filings for some of the years under Are Media control, profits have been elusive in a business turning over around $300m annually.

Fast-forward five years and Mercury Capital is now searching for the best deal it can get.

The buyer of the business would get its hands on 20 magazines plus a freight and logistics business. Trucking the magazines around Australia, published by Are Media and many other publishers, is Are Direct, a distribution business once known as Gordon & Gotch.

Since Mercury acquired the brands, some have been closed and others have been sold off.

As Are Media chief executive Jane Huxley made it plain to staff this week, the business will continue to keep the publishing wheels turning, producing content Are Media claims is reaching nine out of 10 women each year.