Penske Media Acquires WWD, M, Beauty Inc., And Footwear News From Condé Nast

by Alexandra Ilyashov

Penske Media is set to acquire Fairchild’s business-to-business titles, including WWD, from Condé Nast. The other industry-centric titles comprising the sale are M, Beauty Inc., Footwear News, and their events outfit, Fairchild Summits. The spate of titles was sold to the tune of $100 million, according to The New York Times. Penske Media’s trade-centric portfolio of titles includes Variety,  Movieline, and Hollywood Life, plus an events arm, and a strong emphasis on digital properties; the company is helmed by CEO and chairman Jay Penske. The news follows Condé Nast’s sale last week of Lucky to Beachmint.

“This decision comes after a thorough review of options that would position both Condé Nast and FFM for the most attractive, long-term growth opportunities,” said Condé CEO Chuck Townsend in a company-wide internal memo. “With this sale, Fairchild joins a company with solid trade publishing roots and Condé Nast redoubles our efforts on broadening our reach and impact with premium audiences and advertisers.”

The sale of 104-year-old WWD is the most intriguing bit of news, but also of note? Not all of  Fairchild’s brands will join the Penske portfolio. Style.com and NowManifest will remind in the Conde fold. Fairchild’s president and CEO, Gina Sanders, will not be moving over to Penske; she will instead take on a yet-unnamed role at Conde’s parent company, Advance Publications. The acquired titles’ staffers will purportedly move over to Penske as part of the deal.

 

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