IT’S the amount that everyone was chasing: $225 million in cash.
That’s what Bonnier Magazine Group, a privately owned Swedish media giant, agreed to pay for the 18 magazines that Time Inc. is divesting, sources told Media Ink.
The Time Warner board, as expected, approved the divestment of the 18 magazines from Time Inc. at yesterday’s quarterly meeting, but didn’t disclose the purchase price.
There’s always a bit of fuzziness anytime prices are reported in magazine deals.
In some mag deals, the value is calculated by adding cash plus the subscription liabilities, or the amount of subscriptions that consumers have paid for in advance but are still awaiting delivery of the actual issues.
In Time Inc.’s case, the unfulfilled subscription liabilities account for about $42 million.
That means this deal may eventually be valued at $270 million.
But take it to the bank that the deal cost the Bonnier family $225 million in cash upfront.
Neither they nor Time Warner would confirm the figure yesterday.
The magazines in the package include Field & Stream, Outdoor Life, Ski, Yachting and TransWorld Snowboarding, and 11 other titles that were part of Time Inc.’s Time4 Media Group.
Also included are Parenting and Baby Talk, which are part of the Parenting Group.
What Bonnier paid is somewhat below the price that Time Inc. CEO Ann Moore and investment banker J.P. Morgan were hoping to fetch, but it’s still a healthy multiple for mature magazines in a deteriorating ad climate.
It is believed to be a multiple of about 11 times cash flow for a group that has net income of around $20 million and revenue of around $230 million.
“We think we did a good deal, and we think Time did as well,” said Jonas Bonnier, CEO of the Bonnier Group.
“We look at what we think the magazines will do for the next 15 or 20 years,” said Bonnier, who is slated to visit the New York offices on Monday.
The Bonnier Group already has a small footprint in the USA thanks to its 50 percent stake in Winter Haven, Fla.-based World Publications, which owns Islands and Spa, Saveur, Water Skiing and Caribbean Travel & Life.
The Time Inc. executives yesterday were putting a good spin on the deal, believing that because the new owners have a minimal presence in the U.S. they will need to keep most of the 550 employees.
Other observers are not so sure.
“Will they decimate up here and add people down there [in Winter Haven], which could be done at a lot lower price point,” wondered one investment banker yesterday.
Bonnier provided few clues on his plans.
“How it is organized depends on the people and the company,” said Bonnier.
Bonnier Group is controlled by around 75 family members – including some seventh generation heirs. Jonas is part of the sixth generation in charge of the 203-year-old company.
The deal is expected to be finalized by March 1.
No Paris
Humphrey Bogart told Ingrid Bergman in the classic movie “Casablanca” that they’d always have Paris.
But if you’re working at Time magazine, you may not be able to utter that phrase for much longer.
According to some press reports, the magazine’s Paris bureau – along with four other bureaus in the U.S. – is slated to close as part of a downsizing that will slash 50 editorial jobs at Time Inc. In all, 289 people are being let go.
But the Paris bureau will get a little more time.
You see, France has strict labor laws about plant closings. Before a site is shuttered there must be a period of “consultation” among employees, the parent corporation and labor officials.
Tsunami survivor Michael Elliot, a Time deputy editor who is head of the International editions, visited the bureau Monday, where he told people that nothing definitive has been decided, sources say.
We’re not sure how convincing he was. Sources tell Media Ink that the belief inside the Paris office is that the bureau will soon be gone, ending a tradition that stretches back to World War II.
“We continue to look at a number of situations internationally,” a Time spokeswoman said. “No final decisions have been made.”
New pick
Ellen Kunes, who steered the launch of O, the Oprah Magazine through its turbulent launch and then went on to edit Redbook for several years, is about to land a new gig: editor-in-chief of Health magazine.
Kunes will start her job on Feb. 1, and replaces Doug Crichton, the current editor-in-chief. Crichton did not return a call for comment.
Health two years ago was moved from its longtime home in San Francisco, where it was started by entrepreneurs who later sold it to Time Inc., to Birmingham, Ala., where Time Inc.’s Southern Progress Corp. is based.