New Idea Publisher Sold to Private Equity Based in Sydney

New Idea magazine is on display during the week of the birth of the son of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge at a newsagent on July 24, 2013 in Sydney, Australia. (Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

Australia’s biggest magazine publisher has been sold to a Sydney-based private equity firm.

Bauer Media Australia, the publisher of Woman’s Day, New Idea and Women’s Weekly, has been sold to Mercury Capital.

The purchase includes the Pacific Magazines titles Bauer acquired from Seven West Media earlier this year for $40 million, as well as Bauer’s New Zealand mastheads.

A purchase price was not disclosed but the Australian Financial Review reported it was “less than $50 million”.

Derek Rose