Germans take control of ACP
ACP Media, publisher of Metro, North & South and Woman's Day, is taken over by Bauer.
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Auckland-based magazine publisher ACP Media has fallen under the control of Bauer Media Group, a family-owned German publishing company that owns 400 titles worldwide.
ACP Media is a 100% owned subsidiary of Sydney-based ACP Magazines, a division of heavily indebted Nine Entertainment - in turn owned by private equity outfit CVC Asia Pacific.
Nine Entertainment sold ACP Magazines to Bauer for a reported $A500 million.
ACP Media's titles include Metro, North & South, Next, Woman's Day, the Australian Women's Weekly, Taste, Fashion Quarterly, Air New Zealand's inflight magazine KiaOra, the NZ edition of Top Gear, and the immortal New Weekly and Lucky Break.
The ACP Media stable also includes Property Press, bought from former NBR owner Barry Colman in 2001; the "Trader" series of titles and Netlink, which the company says controls 50% of magazine distribution to retailers.
On the face of it, the deal seems positive move for ACP staff, who move from being under the ownership of a private equity-controlled group with $A2.8 billion debt to stable, family-controlled media company.
Bauer is headed by Yvonne Bauer, a member of the fifth-generation of the family to control the company.
ACP Media is headed by CEO Paul Dykzeul, on his second tour-of-duty with the publisher. Mr Dykzeul first worked for ACP during the period when it was owned by Kerry Packer.
In its most recent results filed with the Companies Office, for the year to June 30, 2011, ACP's NZ magazine operation made a profit of $2.65 million. In the prior year it made a $6.64 million loss.
Revenue was $106.04 million, down from $111.78 million in 2010.
The deal is expected to close in four to eight weeks.
NBR staff
Wed, 05 Sep 2012
Wed, 05 Sep 2012
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Germans take control of ACP
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