New Mag For Meredith [Al]Readymade

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10/05/2006 -02:00 AM

Meredith, a company with deep enough pockets to launch their own title, has foregone that route in favor of acquiring ReadyMade, a do-it-yourself lifestyle magazine for the nesting-friendly 25-39 set.

As a target for a company like Meredith, ReadyMade’s circ is comparatively small. Meredith’s titles are generally around the 1 million range and up – though some are closer to what ReadyMade’s will soon be. Meredith publishing group president Jack Griffin says they’ll shortly bump the circ to 200,000.

The deal – described to me by a source as an "earn-out situation with an initial payment and a rather large back end" – is interesting to me for two reasons: It plays into an idea that’s gaining traction that larger publishers may be scaling back costly launches; and it’s a classic strategic play. I have nothing against the financial guys, but this was kind of refreshing to see. Private equity money has been all over the place lately. And sure, why build when you can buy? Especially when a title like ReadyMade comes complete with a robust Web site with an active community base, and a younger demograhic that Meredith has specifically expressed interest in.