Meredith acquires rights to Martha Stewart Living in US and Canada
Meredith Corporation has entered into an agreement with Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia to acquire the rights to Martha Stewart Living and www.marthastewart.com under a 10-year licensing agreement.
Meredith will lead sales and marketing, circulation, production, and other non-editorial functions of Martha Stewart Living and Martha Stewart Weddings magazines. Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia’s editorial team will continue to create its content. Meredith will assume responsibility for the sales and marketing of www.marthastewart.com and www.marthastewartweddings.com and its related assets.
The agreement (which applies to the US and Canada) is effective from 1 November 2014. Meredith will begin delivering editions starting with the February 2015 issue of Martha Stewart Living and the winter 2014 special issue of Martha Stewart’s Real Weddings. The agreement will not have a material effect on Meredith’s fiscal 2015 second quarter financial performance, but will be accretive to Meredith’s earnings for the second half of fiscal 2015 and in fiscal 2016. Meredith will provide more details on its fiscal 2015 first quarter earnings call on 23 October 2014.
Meredith Chairman and CEO Stephen M. Lacy said: “This is a winning arrangement for both companies and their respective shareholders, as well as advertising clients and consumers alike. The change will be invisible to the consumer, and strengthen the Martha Stewart brand in the advertising marketplace.”
