Negotiations are underway for the future of Australian printing industry magazine ProPrint following Haymarket Media announcing it will no longer publish the title as it exits the Australian market.
After months of speculation Haymarket Media confirmed it will cease publishing in Australia and is selling off its nine titles. Most of the magazines have found a new home with leading specialist publisher Nextmedia. Nextmedia currently holds a portfolio of over 40 magazine titles. It bought PC & Tech Authority, CRN and IT News while it will license the consumer football and motorsport titles FourFour Two and F1 Racing. ProPrint was not picked up by Nextmedia.
David Gardinar, Nextmedia CEO, said, "This is a terrific opportunity for Next to establish a platform in the B2B sector in Australia. CRN and IT News are market leading B2B products that are held in high regard by the industry. They have a terrific team of dedicated staff. These Haymarket products are a great fit."
Along with the titles, Nextmedia will pick up 25 staff attached to these Haymarket brands.
Nextmedia was established in 2008, and over the last three years it has become Australia’s leading specialist publisher and fourth largest consumer publisher. It has since bought up a broad stable of over 40 magazines, businesses and digital properties including Healthy Food Guide, Popular Science, Disney, Motorsport News, Inside Cricket, Green Lifestyle, Aus/NZ Snowboarding and Science Illustrated. Earlier this year, Bavarian publishing company Forum Group Media bought into Nextmedia when it acquired 100% of share capital from Wolseley PE, while the Australian publisher's founding executive team continues to hold their financial interest.
Jeremy Vaughan, managing director, Haymarket Media, said, ""We’d been considering our options in Australia so when Nextmedia approached us we felt it was the right opportunity to divest."
According to a statement by Vaughan, Haymarket is in negotiations to sell ProPrint to an as-yet unnamed buyer. Its stable-mate PrintWeek was also recently sold by Haymarket in the UK.
Haymarket Media and Nextmedia were both unavailable for further comment at the time of publishing.