New M&A Firm Specializes in Regional Magazines

A longtime publishing executive and former managing director at DeSilva & Phillips, Kim Mac Leod has long seen the need for an M&A firm specializing in regional magazines and media. So, in January, she launched Regional Media Advisors, a firm specializing in strategic assessment, mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, valuations and strategic investments. "Regional media seems to fall through the cracks," says Mac Leod. "They're too small for larger firms and too specialized for the local media banker."

Mac Leod is currently the sole proprietor of the Norwalk, Connecticut-based business. "I'm working a woman (formerly) from Arthur Anderson, who does financial analysis for me," she says. "We are looking to add people to the firm though."

Before starting her firm, Mac Leod was responsible for consumer and regional magazine transactions at DeSilva & Philips. She also worked in consumer magazine publishing for 23 years, which included stints at Disney and Rodale, where she helped the company launch Men's Health, and purchase Runner's World and Backpacker.

Since opening in January, Mac Leod closed a deal for Perfect Vision Media Group, which sold a collection of five magazines it owned in the Ft. Lauderdale/Miami area to HPJ Media Ventures. Mac Leod said she could not disclose the sale price. She also has a number of other transactions in the pipeline, she says. "I've been called by a lot of publishers that are unable to afford the fees at larger firms and feel they are unable to be represented fairly by local banks, which don't really understand the value of regional magazines and don't have the tools to appraise them fairly." Eventually, Mac Leod would like to expand into other regional sectors such as directories and yellow pages, she adds.

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