Authentic Brands Group is buying Sports Illustrated brand for $110 million.
Sports Illustrated's current owner Meredith Corporation will continue to publish the magazine’s physical and digital copies, after completion of the deal. Authentic Brands Group, on the other hand, will take charge of the business development, licensing and marketing of the magazine’s intellectual property.
Authentic Brands will acquire, as part of the deal, all Sports Illustrated brands including Sports Illustrated, Sports Illustrated Kids, Sportsperson of the Year, Sports Illustrated Swimsuit, SI and SI TV. The company will also get the rights to Sports Illustrated's archive of 2 million photos.
Last year, Sports Illustrated was offered up for sale, along with Meredith’s other publications including Time, Fortune and Money magazines, which the company had come to own via its purchase of Time Inc. Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff and his wife Lynne Benioff became buyers of Time in September, while Thai billionaire Chatchaval Jiaravanon bought Fortune in November.
The sale of Sports Illustrated brands should enable Meredith to pay approximately $900 million of debt by June 30, as indicated by the company.
a publisher of magazines and books and also operates television stations
Industry PublishingBooksMagazines