Hearst Magazines Sells Marie Claire US to Future
Marie Claire US, a joint venture between Hearst Magazines and Marie Claire Album, has been sold to U.K.-based media company Future.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but Future also owns Marie Claire UK, Woman&Home, GoodToKnow and MyImperfectLife.com.
In a note to staffers, Hearst Magazines president Debi Chirichella said: “Over the past 27 years, we have worked closely with our French joint venture partner, Marie Claire Album, to create Marie Claire U.S. Our focus has always been on strategic long-term growth for the brand. As the industry continues to evolve, the partners believe that the brand would be better served by a single owner, rather than the current 50/50 joint venture structure.”
Zillah Byng-Thorne, CEO of Future, said: ‘With nearly 17.5 million visitors a month, this is a flagship women’s lifestyle brand and I’m delighted that we are adding it to our already strong Women’s Lifestyle Vertical.
“Our continued growth and success is proof of our strategy in action. We’ve had fantastic results expanding the Marie Claire UK brand and we believe that with our expertise in terms of audience, ecommerce and platform, we can develop the offering to grow the Marie Claire U.S. audience significantly,” he added.
Marie Claire’s top editor is Sally Holmes. She took the helm in September from Aya Kanai, who surprised Hearst execs when she jumped ship to Pinterest after just nine months as editor in chief. Before that, Anne Fulenwider was in charge.
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During the pandemic, Hearst quietly reduced the title’s print frequency from 11 issues to just seven in 2020 and instead launched its first digital issue with cover face Janet Mock. It also made Power Trip — Marie Claire’s annual 36-hour, invite-only, all-expenses-paid networking conference for successful women across all industries that Fulenwider launched in 2016 as a way to make the magazine stand out in the event space — virtual.
The sale of Marie Claire is not the only big change afoot at Hearst Tower. Last week, the magazine arm offered voluntary buyouts to staffers in its advertising sales and marketing division. WWD understands that the terms on offer include three weeks’ payment for every year of service, while for 2021, bonuses and commission will be paid out for full at 100 percent of the target for eligible staff.
For more, see:
The Washington Post Pulls New Top Editor from Associated Press
Condé Nast Taps Versha Sharma as Editor in Chief of Teen Vogue
2021 Media Moves: Buyouts at Hearst Magazines and More
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