Report: Hearst buys Car and Driver, Road & Track from Lagardère

[Haltech]

Filed under: Etc., Earnings/Financials

In one fell swoop, Hearst has moved to become the second-largest magazine titan in the United States by acquiring over 100 titles from French publisher Legardère. While the heap of magazines spans 15 countries and a host of topics, Car and Driver and Road & Track both stand out from the crowd as two of the most notable slicks in the heap, at least to us. According to The New York Times, Hearst laid its hands on the new assets by plopping down around $890 million, and both publishers are set to benefit from the deal in different ways

Legardère has been under pressure from stock holders for some time to slim its international efforts and redouble its focus on domestic exploits. Meanwhile, Hearst has been vying for a better way to lock horns with Condé Nast on the fashion and beauty advertising front, and the acquisition of American Elle alongside the rest of the new titles should provide the appropriate venue for that action.

With a newly diversified portfolio of titles under its belt, Hearst believes that it stands to significantly increase its advertising dollars. The New York Times reports that last year, Time Inc. led the advertising fray with more than $4 billion, followed by Condé Nast with $2.5 billion and Hearst with $2.4 billion. Had the new titles been included in last year's figures, Hearst would have walked away with $3.5 billion in ads.

[Source: The New York Times]Report: Hearst buys Car and Driver, Road & Track from Lagardère originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 01 Feb 2011 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.



Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments





More...