Rogers yesterday announced the sale of its publishing division to St. Joseph Communications (SJC), in which SJC will acquire all seven Rogers Media print and digital magazine brands: Maclean’s, Chatelaine (English and French), Today’s Parent, HELLO! Canada, digital publications FLARE and Canadian Business, as well as the company’s Custom Content business.
All current Rogers Media Publishing employees will be offered employment through the deal, which is expected to close next month.
“We are pleased to add these renowned titles to our portfolio of award-winning media brands and to welcome their dedicated staff into the St. Joseph family,” Tony Gagliano, Executive Chairman and CEO of SJC, says. “We also want to welcome their diverse and loyal audiences and advertisers who have supported these brands through the years.”
Rogers Media and SJC say they will work together to ensure a smooth change of ownership, including some transition services. Current subscribers will continue to receive their print and digital subscriptions.
“Bringing together two talented teams and many of Canada’s most celebrated magazine brands is an important opportunity for SJC, the media industry and our country,” Gagliano continues. “Our experience with brands such as Toronto Life, and the strategies applied and growth we have seen there, gives us confidence that we can help transform these brands so they may prosper in the quickly changing media landscape.”
• From 2011: Rogers sells 15 B2B publications to Glacier Media
“It was vitally important to us to find a good home for our employees and these storied brands so that the publications live on and flourish in a well-established company dedicated to publishing. It was a difficult decision, but one we believe is right as we accelerate our strategic vision and reposition our media business for the future,” Rick Brace, President of Rogers Media, says.
Once the largest magazine publisher in Canada after purchasing the Maclean-Hunter media properties in 1994, Rogers Media has been slowly reducing its print footprint in recent years. In 2016 it announced four of its print publications — MoneySense, Sportsnet Magazine, Canadian Business and Flare — would move to a digital-only format in January 2017.
Describing itself as Canada’s largest privately owned print, media and communications company, St. Joseph Communications owns and publishes Toronto Life, FASHION Magazine, Weddingbells, MARIAGE Québec, Ottawa Magazine, Quill & Quire and the Where Group of Magazines in Vancouver, Calgary, Ottawa and Toronto.
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