Rogers Media employee group interested in magazine brands: report

According to an internal memo obtained by the Globe and Mail, a group of Rogers Media employees is reportedly interested in purchasing the company’s struggling magazine business.

The Globe reported on December 30th, 2018 that the employee group put forward a plan on November 22nd, 2018 to purchase Maclean’s, Today’s Parent, Hello! Canada and Chatelaine’s English and French editions, as well as digital publications Canadian Business and Flare.

Maclean’s editor-in-chief Alison Uncles and Maclean’s contributor Scott Gilmore are reportedly leading the employee group, which is one of two parties interested in acquiring the Rogers Media magazine business.

The Globe said that it hasn’t been able to confirm the other group’s identity.

News first broke that Rogers Media was interested in selling its digital and print media assets in August 2018.

At the time, the Globe reported that Rogers wanted to sell all eight of digital and print publications in a single package, rather than selling the collection piecemeal.

The news came roughly two months after Rogers Media laid off 75 employees who were part of the digital content and publishing team.

Rogers told MobileSyrup that the layoffs were a result of a desire to “reflect the headwinds the industry is facing and make the business sustainable.”

A November 7th, 2018 report revealed that Rogers Media and Roustan Media had been in talks, but that the deal ultimately fell through.

According to the Globe, the combined advertising revenue for all of Rogers Media’s print publications totalled $12 million, while print subscription and newsstand sales amounted to $16.5 million.

Digital subscriptions reportedly totalled $600,000.

MobileSyrup has reached out to Rogers for comment. This story will be updated with a response.

Source: The Globe and Mail

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