Bauer buyer’s execs to talk over magazine strategy

The new owners of Bauer Media will on Monday outline their vision for the future of the magazine empire.

The new private equity owners of the soon-to-be-renamed Bauer Media will on Monday meet with executives at what is Australia’s biggest magazine publisher to discuss their strategic vision for the once mighty media enterprise.

The Clark Perkins-chaired Mercury Capital, which last week paid less than $50m for the beleag­uered Bauer, whose titles include the Australian Women’s Weekly, New Idea and Woman’s Day, is expected to meet with CEO Brendon Hill to nut out plans for the once Kerry Packer-owned publishing company.

In 2012, Bauer paid the then David Gyngell-led Nine Entertainment $525m for ACP. The deal with Mercury includes the Pacific Magazines titles that Bauer bought from billionaire Kerry Stokes’s Seven West Media just a few weeks ago for $40m.

The German family-owned media group has torched $600m-plus on its eight-year foray into the Australian media.

The deal with Mercury is subject to regulatory approval, which those close to the deal are hopeful will be forthcoming in mid-July.

Mr Hill told Media he and his keep-executives had met with the Mercury team during its extensive due diligence process.

It is unclear whether Mercury intends to continue running the magazine business out of the previously Packer-owned 54 Park Street in Sydney’s CBD.

Bauer has just completed the renovation of two floors that it continues to rent in the building from where the late Packer ran his empire.

Another source close to the deal said management was yet to be offered any equity participation in the transaction, with Mercury preferring to wait at least six to 12 months to get to know existing management before offering any skin in the game.

Mr Hill said the next 12 weeks would be spent working with Mercury to establish how the business would move forward.

A spokeswoman for Mercury said Mr Perkins did not wish to discuss the deal.

The New Zealand investment banker, 52, who formerly worked at Goldman Sachs and JB Were, already has the trappings of a serious media player.

Two years ago, together with wife Marguerite, Mr Perkins paid $30m for a mansion on the waterfront in the Sydney eastern suburb of Vaucluse, which the banker bought from hotelier Jerry Schwartz and his wife, Debbie.

The price of the luxury home is almost as much as Mercury paid for the entire Bauer business, which will be held in Mercury’s two-year-old $600m Mercury Capital Fund 3. It will be that fund’s fourth acquisition, following on from last year buying enterprise software company Squiz and a minority stake in business-to-person messaging company Message Media. In March, Mercury also bought a minority stake in live entertainment company TEG, owner of Ticketek.