Negotiations by Darden Media to buy Maxim and its parent, Alpha Media, have collapsed, sources tell Media Ink.
Cerberus Capital Management, Alpha’s majority owner, has now turned to the No. 2 bidder, a joint venture that includes Infinity Group, a licensing company, and Hilco Global, a buyer of distressed assets.
Infinity and Hilco, already partners on a licensing and branding deal for Miss America, will bid, about $10 million less than the $30 million Calvin Darden Sr. said his fledgling Darden Media is willing to pay to acquire the laddie magazine, sources said
Alpha went on the block in March with Cerberus and partners desperately wanting to put this unsuccessful venture behind them.
The company was acquired for $250 million in 2007 by Quadrangle Capital Partners, which counted on a $160 million loan from Cerberus and other lenders. When Quadrangle defaulted in 2009, Cerberus and partners ended as stockholders.
Rumors circulated for the past month that the deal between Alpha and Darden was in trouble.
Then Bob Guccione Jr., the founder of Spin and the now-defunct Gear magazine, insisted in late November that the deal was still on and he was going to come aboard as the new CEO with Darden.
But the year-end deadline clock was ticking and Darden apparently kept missing deadlines to come up with the rest of the cash.
Darden was about $10 million short of the promised amount, one source said, and was scrambling to find it.