Germany’s Bauer paid $7m for APN’s magazines

APN News & Media sold the New Zealand Woman's Weekly, The Listener, Simply You, Simply You Living and Crème to Germany's Bauer Media Group for $7 million.

The November deal got the thumbs-up from the Commerce Commission in January even though Hamburg-based Bauer already published 20 magazines in New Zealand but the price was not disclosed at the time. It has now turned up in a note to the accounts of APN News & Media's New Zealand subsidiary Wilson & Horton Ltd filed to the Companies Office.

"Under the agreement, all the group's wholly owned magazine brands being the New Zealand Woman's Weekly, The Listener, Simply You, Simply You Living and Crème pass to Bauer for consideration of $7 million," the note says.

The magazines were valued at $788,000 in the Wilson & Horton accounts, with liabilities $3.1 million in payables.

The Commerce Commission was satisfied the deal didn't substantially lessen competition in the supply of current affairs, weekly women's and women's interest magazines, nor magazine advertising. It took the view that Bauer would continue to face competition from the suppliers of other magazine titles and alternative platforms, such as television, newspapers and the internet.

New Zealand's magazine advertising turnover rose 9.7 percent to $210 million in 2012, accounting for almost a tenth of total advertising turnover, according to Advertising Standards Authority figures.

Bauer also publishes Woman's Day, The Australian Woman's Weekly, Next, Taste, Metro and North & South. It earlier acquired the Australasian assets of magazine publisher ACP Media.

When seeking permission to buy APN's magazines Bauer argued there were 3,000 magazine titles for sale in New Zealand, about 300 of which were published locally. It said magazines inserted in newspapers had changed the print media landscape in New Zealand, with seven of the 20 most read magazines being inserts.

Bauer was expected to be able to achieve economies of scale in the production of magazines because of this deal.

APN still has New Idea, That's Life and Girlfriend under licence from Pacific Magazines Group Australia.

APN's dual-listed shares last traded at 87 cents on the NZX and 77 Australian cents on the ASX.

(BusinessDesk)