Last Friday I began to wonder: “what’s up with Maxim, Stuff and Blender?”
I spoke to a few people in the know and then read numerous reports suggesting that the sale to private bankers was imminent, with Quadrangle and former Wenner Media executive Kent Brownridge in the lead. The deal was to be announced as early as Monday.
Saturday I wrote: “I should have lined up my own bankers and bought Dennis Publishing,” maybe Felix Dennis would have liked my strategy better…
Like Brownridge, I’ve spent some years in the men’s lifestyle content space. Similarly, I too would have liked to inflict a payback to my backstabbing partners (not sure if Mr. Brownridge’s former business partner Jann Wenner actually backstabbed him, but mine sure did)…
Unlike Brownridge though, I would have focused on digital though… Maxim has a fantastic brand and it’s one of the rare magazines with a bright future if the strategy is right. Blender too has a lot of upside. And, mind you, I’d consider buying them because the assets we have at Mojo Supreme are highly complementary with any media company and the sum of he parts would probably create a lot of value, fast.
But, ’tis Friday, and still no deal?
What happened? Any one got a clue?
Murphy’s Law being what it is, of course, as I press publish the news might hit the wires…
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