Hearst, Conde Nast Create PubWorx To Handle Production, Circulation

Condé Nast and Hearst, two of the biggest magazine publishing companies, announced Thursday they will team up to create a new independent company.

PubWorx will handle the production, procurement and circulation management for both companies. It officially launches Feb. 29.

PubWorx will be led by Al Perruzza, most recently executive vice president, business operations at Reader’s Digest.

Perruzza has been appointed president and CEO of PubWorx and will report to a board comprised of executives from Condé Nast and Hearst Magazines.

He stated the goal is to build “tailored, impactful programs that position their organizations for increased efficiency and growth.”

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Ownership of PubWorx will be split 50/50 between the two founders. PubWorx will incorporate staff and back-office functions from Condé Nast and Hearst Magazines. As an independent company, it will also offer its slate of services to other publishers, including procurement, production, and full-service, end-to-end circulation management operations.

Pubworx will also provide important, turn-key infrastructure for the industry, "allowing publishers to access the scale of our two companies for production and circulation functions, freeing them to concentrate on innovation, content creation and advertising revenue,” stated David Carey, president of Hearst Magazines.

What Hearst and Condé Nast haven’t discussed is what will happen to the staff at both companies that currently handle production, procurement and circulation. (They include titles such as Vogue, Vanity Fair and Wired at Condé Nast and Cosmopolitan, Elle and Esquire at Hearst).

Reports suggest there will be big layoffs; that's likely, considering the new unit will have a staff of just under 150 employees. Initiatives like these to streamline back-office operations, aiming to achieve economic efficiencies and cost savings.

“The primary focus is not outright job reduction, but to bring the scale of the two companies together to benefit ourselves and other publishers,” Carey told The Wall Street Journal.

PubWorx isn’t the first time Hearst and Condé Nast have partnered.

The two publishers formed Comag, a marketing and retail distribution company, nearly 40 years ago. Comag U.S. was sold in 2012; Hearst and Condé Nast continue to own and operate the business together in the U.K.

Hearst Newspapers and Advance Publications, parent company of Condé Nast, have also worked together on procurement for many years.

1 comment about "Hearst, Conde Nast Create PubWorx To Handle Production, Circulation".
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  1. Penelope Wolfe from Penny Wolfe Creative Services, February 6, 2016 at 6:46 a.m.

    Bravo, Condé Nast! 

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