MARTHA Stewart plans to do Europe.
On the brink of a December launch of a Japanese edition of her magazine, Martha Stewart has now set her sights on expanding her Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia empire into Europe.
She said the plan calls for a full-blown four platform approach – magazines, television, merchandising and the Internet – in England, Germany and France.
And she promises that they’ll get the real deal – not a home grown version.
“It will be with me – not a German Martha or a French Martha,” Stewart told Media Ink. There is no timetable when a deal will be finalized, she said.
“It took two years for Japan, so who knows,” she said. In Japan, she entered into a joint venture partnership with Seiyu Ltd., which offers Martha Stewart merchandising in 226 retail stores and plans to launch “Martha” magazine in December.
She said she’d also like to expand into Korea and ultimately into the world’s largest market, China.
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The “for sale” sign is still out on The Source, but it is hard to tell who is bidding or when the process will reach a conclusion.
Some prospective suitors complain that founder David Mays has not been forthcoming in his financial information – and that has slowed down the auction process and caused some prospective suitors to drop out.
As the American Magazine Conference was wrapping up yesterday, Alex Mironovich, the CEO of Vibe/Spin Ventures said he is still in the hunt.
“We’re still looking,” said Mironovich. “The process is ongoing. We’re just one party,” he added.
Other potential bidders ranged from Rolling Stone founder Jann Wenner to Bob Johnson, the billionaire head of Black Entertainment Television now owned by Viacom, and Ed Lewis at Essence Communications, which now counts Time Inc. as a 49 percent partner.
One source close to the bidding said that the preliminary rounds are already over and that a resolution is expected “within the next month.”
The magazine’s lure is indisputable. In 14 years, founder Mays has built the one-time photocopied tip sheet into the hottest hip-hop magazine around. It sells 365,317 copies a month on newsstands – more than 150,000 copies more than its nearest competitor, Vibe. Its total circulation for the six months ending June 30 was 465,225, up 4.3 percent.
But suitors say they don’t understand Mays’ math.
Mays, a hard-living, Bentley-driving media kingpin, has valued the operation at $100 million on a magazine that makes about $6 million a year.
But he also seems to have a nasty habit of not keeping careful records.
Earlier this year, The Smoking Gun revealed that American Express was suing the company for $1.3 million in unpaid bills, including over $200,000 that Mays allegedly rang up on his own corporate charge card.
And obtaining financial information has not always been easy. “If you buy a house, you are going to do a title search,” said one prospective suitor who has lost interest. “Nobody is going to buy it based on some scribblings on a pizza napkin.”
Mays did not return a call seeking comment. But one source close to the situation said, “they reach a demographic of young men that is hard to reach. There are a lot of interested parties, including non-traditional buyers.”
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It turns out that Adweek Group was not alone in its cutbacks in the media trade field. Arch rival Advertising Age also hit its editorial staff with a second round of cutbacks this year.
“We unfortunately had to let three people go last week,” acknowledged Ad Age Editor Scott Donaton.
The trio included Assistant Managing Editor Kim Narisetti, Interactive Editor Catharine Taylor and Creative Editor Anthony Vagnoni.
“Like everyone else in this economy, we had to put expenses in line with our revenue,” Donaton said. “This is all about budgeting for next year.”
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