Listener and Woman’s Day publisher Are Media is on the market

Are Media, publisher of Kiwi magazines including the Listener, Woman’s Day and New Zealand Woman’s Weekly, has been put up for sale by its owner, investment firm Mercury Capital.

KPMG Corporate Finance have been engaged to run a formal sale process.

In a statement on the decision to sell, a spokesperson says: “Further to recent speculation, and on the back of a number of market enquiries and approaches, we can confirm that a decision has been made to commence a sale process for Are Media, Australia’s leading omnichannel content company for women.”

Strength and optimism

Various media outlets say Are Media staff were informed of the sale via an email from CEO Jane Huxley.

An article by The Spinoff‘s Ātea editor Liam Ratana notes Huxley told staff the decision “comes from a place of strength and optimism. We’ve built incredibly strong foundations and now it’s time to take the next step.”

Ratana’s article further reports it is currently unknown the Kiwi titles will be split from the Australian ones.

Long legacy

Are Media, which operates both in Aotearoa and Australia, was formed after German publisher Bauer Media closed down in both countries in 2020 as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.

In Aotearoa, the magazines published by Are Media include some of the country’s oldest read.

The New Zealand Woman’s Weekly was first published in 1932 with 7000 copies and its publisher said it was hoping to offer “usefulness, cheerfulness and happiness” to readers in the Depression.

The New Zealand Listener was launched in 1939, as the journal of the National Broadcasting Service.

With the introduction of television in June 1960, the Listener started publishing weekly TV listings, along with topical articles, editorials, letters to the editor and reviews.