View all newsletters
Sign up for our free email newsletters

Fighting for quality news media in the digital age.

  1. News
June 14, 2007

Dennis US sale announcement expected today

By Press Gazette

It’s official – or should be any moment. Felix Dennis is expected to announce today the sale of most of his American titles to the Quadrangle Group, a big American investment firm.

The only exception is The Week, the quasi Time and Newsweek weekly, which is said to be Dennis’s favourite .publication.

The price for the other titles – including Maxim, Stuff and Blender – is said to be around $235 million. That’s less than Dennis had hoped for when he first put his American titles on the market 18 months ago. His target was around $300 million

But interest in lads’ mags has declined lately, and so have sales, largely because many American men’s mag readers have turned to the internet and many supermarkets are against displaying sexy magazine covers at their check-out counters.

The sale of the Dennis titles to Quadrangle means that Kent Brownridge, who for 30 years worked as No 2 to Jan Wenner, a hot rival of Felix Dennis, will be back in the men’s mag business where he had a reputation as a “cut-throat executive”. It will put him in competition with his old boss. That, everyone speculates, will be a situation to watch,

As will the future of Stuff, which was intended to be competitor to FHM. But FHM was killed off in December, so what to do with Stuff may be the first question that Quadrangle (and Brownridge) may have to decide. Merge it with Maxim, whose circulation (and ad income) has been declining.? That’s one suggestion that’s been made, and could mark a possible start to a new men’s mag war in the US.

Content from our partners
MHP Group's 30 To Watch awards for young journalists open for entries
How PA Media is helping newspapers make the digital transition
Publishing on the open web is broken, how generative AI could help fix it

Email pged@pressgazette.co.uk to point out mistakes, provide story tips or send in a letter for publication on our "Letters Page" blog

Select and enter your email address Weekly insight into the big strategic issues affecting the future of the news industry. Essential reading for media leaders every Thursday. Your morning brew of news about the world of news from Press Gazette and elsewhere in the media. Sent at around 10am UK time. Our weekly does of strategic insight about the future of news media aimed at US readers. A fortnightly update from the front-line of news and advertising. Aimed at marketers and those involved in the advertising industry.
  • Business owner/co-owner
  • CEO
  • COO
  • CFO
  • CTO
  • Chairperson
  • Non-Exec Director
  • Other C-Suite
  • Managing Director
  • President/Partner
  • Senior Executive/SVP or Corporate VP or equivalent
  • Director or equivalent
  • Group or Senior Manager
  • Head of Department/Function
  • Manager
  • Non-manager
  • Retired
  • Other
Visit our privacy Policy for more information about our services, how New Statesman Media Group may use, process and share your personal data, including information on your rights in respect of your personal data and how you can unsubscribe from future marketing communications.
Thank you

Thanks for subscribing.

Websites in our network