The New Zealand Woman's Weekly is one of the titles sold by APN to the German Bauer publishing group. Photo / APN
Bauer Media Group (NZ), which publishes Metro and North and South magazines, has been cleared to buy a handful of APN News & Media's New Zealand magazine titles, including The Listener and New Zealand Woman's Weekly.
The Commerce Commission today cleared the acquisition, saying it was satisfied the deal won't
substantially lessen competition in the supply of current affairs, weekly women's and women's interest magazines, nor magazine advertising, it said in a statement. The deal will see APN sell the NZ Woman's Weekly, Simply You, Simply You Living, New Zealand Listener and Crème titles to the German group.
"The merged firm would continue to face competition from the suppliers of other magazine titles and alternative platforms, such as television, newspapers and the internet," chairman Mark Berry said.
New Zealand's magazine advertising turnover rose 9.7 per cent to $210 million in 2012, accounting for almost a tenth of total advertising turnover, according to Advertising Standards Authority figures.
Hamburg-based Bauer already publishes 20 magazines in New Zealand, including Woman's Day, The Australian Woman's Weekly, Next, Taste, Metro and North & South. In September last year, Bauer spent an estimated A$644 million on the Australasian assets of magazine publisher ACP Media.
