Bauer Media sells its Australian publishing business to Mercury Capital

Bauer Media Group has today announced the sale of its Australian publishing business to investment firm Mercury Capital, marking a new chapter for Bauer Australia after its acquisition of Pacific Magazines in April.

The binding offer from Mercury Capital involves all of Bauer Media Australia’s titles from across the women’s entertainment and lifestyle; fashion, beauty and health; homes; food; motoring and trader lifestyle categories. The agreement also includes those titles recently acquired by Bauer from Pacific Magazines, as well as Bauer’s New Zealand mastheads.

Says Veit Dengler, COO, Bauer Media Group: “We have been proud to be the custodian of these iconic titles in Australia. I am confident that under Mercury’s ownership they will continue to thrive.”

Says Brendon Hill (pictured), CEO, Bauer Media ANZ: “This signals an exciting new chapter for the business. With new ownership and our bolstered portfolio, we have unparalleled opportunities to connect with more Australians than ever before and continue our strategy of digital growth and innovation.

“We have increased flexibility to diversify revenue streams and grow and innovate across our multi-platform offerings. Additionally, we are well placed to invest in the key drivers of future success – high-quality content and digital development which is good for us, our audiences, clients and the Australian industry as a whole.”
Bauer’s expanded portfolio of 43 brands now reaches six in ten Australian women each month; more than 6.5 million women each month across magazines, websites, video, social, customer review sites, podcasts and experiences; a print readership of 6.8 million per year and social connections of more than 30.5 million.

“Despite the challenges presented by COVID-19, we have seen significant growth in subscriptions and digital audiences across our food, home, youth and fashion brands, demonstrating that Australians still love and read our brands. We have seen great vision, success and growth under Bauer Media Group ownership and now look forward to working alongside Mercury Capital to build on this growth under a new brand in the future.”

The sale is subject to regulatory approval with the transaction expected to be complete in mid-July and the new brand to be announced in the coming months.