Publishing giant, EMAP, is making a bid to move into the US publishing market in a deal that could see the company become the largest magazine publisher in the world. EMAP has made a £720 million bid for The Petersen Companies, the US special interest publisher which produces Guns & Ammo and Teen. Teen, a magazine for teenage girls, sells around 1.7 million copies a month.
EMAP’s bid, described by analysts as expensive, values Petersen at $34 per share. On the back of the news, EMAP’s shares were valued at 960p at 12:40pm today – this is a 90p (8.6%) drop on yesterday’s closing price of 1050p.
Kevin Hand, who took over as EMAP chief executive in November last year (see Major Shake-Up At EMAP Board), is keen to expand the company into international markets. Commenting on the deal, Hand said: “Petersen represents the outstanding opportunity for us to secure a successful, well-managed business in the US – the world’s largest media market – and an important step towards fulfilling our international strategy. With such an established presence, Petersen provides excellent opportunities for further growth, including acting as a platform for launching EMAP’s international titles in the US.”
If the deal is completed, the activities of Petersen will form a newly-created North American division of EMAP which will be run by Petersen’s CEO, Jim Dunning, and will operate under the name of EMAP Petersen. It is also likely that Dunning will become a member of the EMAP Board.
One of EMAP’s biggest sellers in the UK is FHM, which has a circulation of 775,000 copies per issue. EMAP has been speculating on the possibility of launching FHM in the US for a while now but did not want to relinquish editorial control by contracting the magazine to another publisher. The merger with Petersen will make a US FHM launch, along with other EMAP titles, a lot more viable.
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