NatMags Grabs Gruner and Jahr

Rumours that IPC was to acquire the magazine publishing assets of Gruner & Jahr UK (G&J) (see IPC Eyes Gruner and Jahr For Possible Takeover) have been quashed by the announcement that the National Magazine Company (NatMags) has made the takeover move instead.

NatMags managing director Terry Mansfield said the two companies were a “great match”, adding, “Our two parent companies [Hearst Corporation and Bertelsmann], have worked together before on the Spanish edition of Cosmopolitan, which has been a successful joint venture within the G&J publishing group in Spain since 1990.” He said that the acquisition was handled by G&J in “a spirit of friendliness and cooperation.”

Gruner & Jahr have been publishing titles in the UK for 15 years, since launching the monthly Prima in 1985. Since then its portfolio has grown to include another women’s title, the weekly Best, parenting title Prima Baby, Your Home and science and technology magazine Focus.

Holger Wiemann, managing director of G&J UK admitted, “We took the decision to withdraw from the UK market with some regret but we could not have found a better home for our titles that the National Magazine Company.”

The acquisition means that NatMags will publish a weekly title for the first time (G&J’s Best). It also announced last month that it was launching a new dotcom venture, in the form of a UK version of the popular US women’s site women.com (see

Gruner & Jahr: 020 7245 8700 NatMags: 020 7439 5000