After dodging months of rumors, Dennis Publishing has officially announced its plan to sell off its “laddie empire” – the triumvirate of Maxim, Stuff and Blender. Dennis also confirmed that it has retained media investment firm Allen & Co. to help manage the sale. According to Radar last fall, Dennis had been quietly negotiating with one eager buyer. That asking price was believed to be $250 million — but the deal fell through.
As for now, the sale includes all 31 international editions of Maxim, from the U.K. to France, Russia to South America, as well branded licensing deals with the casino in Las Vegas, as well U.S.-based steakhouses, lounges and fashion bedding, Mediaweek reported. It is unclear how the sale will proceed. The hope is that Blender, Stuff, and Maxim will be sold as a bundle, though the company is open to selling them off separately, Radar added. The Week, however, will not be part of any deal, because, a Dennis source told Radar, “It’s the only one that’s still close to Felix’s heart.”
AdAge speculated as to why the sale effort was announced now, noting that while the magazines have been enormously successful as multiplatform brands, the category seems to have peaked. AdAge breaks it down this way:
—While Maxim’s circulation is impressive at 2.5 million, it has remained at that level for the past six years. Meanwhile, ad pages dropped 6.8 percent in 2006, according to the Publishers Information Bureau.
—Stuff has a large circulation as well, averaging 1.2 million over the second half of last year, but that was down 4.8 percent from the second half of 2005. The magazine’s ad pages fell 14 percent last year and experienced a downward spiral since 2003.
—At Blender, circulation and ad pages continue to grow, but the five-year-old magazine doesn’t bring in much revenue.
—As for Dennis’ online properties, exactly 12 of its magazines have websites. Those dozen sites operate under Dennis Interactive, which also sells and manages ad inventory for four additional affiliate sites. The online network claims to attract over 1.75 million unique users per month and generates over 40 million pageviews. Over 2.5 million people are currently registered to use one of Dennis’ sites. Dennis also claims that unique users and page views have doubled in the last twelve months. The sale includes the sites and other assets associated with Stuff, Blender and Maxim.
Related:
—Dennis’s Digital Media Plans
—Maxim Parent Revamps Web Division
—Dennis Sells Gaming Magazines And Sites to Future for £2.5m