• by Sara Guaglione , June 18, 2020

German-based Bauer Media Group has sold the print and digital assets of the magazines it operates in Australia and New Zealand, to Australian private equity firm Mercury Capital.

The firm’s newly expanded portfolio includes 43 brands across women’s entertainment and lifestyle, fashion, beauty and health; homes; food; motoring and trader lifestyle categories.

Titles include the Australian and New Zealand Women’s Weekly, Harper’s Bazaar Australia, Elle Australia and New Zealand Listener, among others.

The deal also includes Pacific Magazines, which publishes Better Homes & Gardens, New Idea and Marie Claire. Bauer acquired the assets from Seven West Media for $40 million just last month. Bauer has been in Australia for eight years.

The deal with Mercury Capital is expected to close by the end of July.

"Bauer Media remains committed to magazine publishing,” stated Bauer Media COO Veit Dengler. “This decision supports our strategy to invest in our market leading brands, where we believe we are best placed to do so.” Bauer recently laid off staff, halted printing of a number of magazine titles in Australia and shut down operations in New Zealand in April.

It let go of about 140 Australian staffers. The New Zealand arm employed about 237 full-time staff, according to Newshub.

Australian CEO Brendon Hill will continue to lead the company under Mercury Capital ownership.

Despite the challenges in distribution and advertising revenue brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, Hill expressed to multiple media outlets that subscriptions and digital audiences have continued to grow.

In the U.S., Bauer publishes titles like First for Women and Woman’s World.