Apr
10
UPDATE: SpecPub Standing at the Altar
April 10, 2008 | Leave a Comment
**UPDATE: I heard from a source at SpecPub this afternoon. See below.** By now you may have caught wind of yesterday’s news that PlanetOut Inc. will sell its magazine and publishing businesses to Regent Releasing, an affiliate of here! Networks. The fire-sale price was $6 million dollars and the sale is expected to close by the end of August. The deal covers Advocate, Out and HIVPlus magazines, as well as Alyson Books, and their related websites. However, as Constant Readers know, PlanetOut also owns Specialty Publications, which publishes Freshmen, Men and [2] magazines and their affiliated websites. Most of the articles and blog items covering this story don’t mention SpecPub. But I found an article in the San Francisco Business Times (click here) which does briefly take note of what PlanetOut primly calls “our adult businesses” without mentioning the company by name. The article notes they have been unable to find a buyer, so it would appear SpecPub is not part of the new deal. “We believe that the divestiture of our publishing businesses will enable PlanetOut Inc. to devote all of our attention and resources to our core online businesses, Gay.com and PlanetOut.com,” said CEO Karen Magee. “This will ensure that all of our powerful brands have a better chance to grow and prosper, and will ultimately produce greater value for our shareholders.” Sounds good, right? I went to PlanetOut.com and PlanetOutInc.com to read the official press release and at press time (about 9:15 am) they had not been updated. That says it all.
**UPDATE: SpecPub caught wind of my story this morning, and I have since spoken with a source who does not want to be identified. “Yes, we were sold with everything else,” I’m told. “Though the press release PlanetOut didn√¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢t specifically highlight SpecPub and all its publications, it√¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s definitely a package deal, and that San Francisco Business Journal article reported it incorrectly.”
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Your report is incorrect. All of PlanetOut’s print businesses including SPI (SpecPub) and LPI (The Advocate, Out) have been sold to Regent. Read the PR again.
“As part of a private placement in July 2007, through which PlanetOut raised $24 million after fees, the company was obliged to try and sell off what it calls ‘our adult businesses,’ but it has so far been unable to sell them. The company needs more money, but said in a March regulatory filing that ‘raising additional financing will be very difficult, if it could be obtained at all.’ ”
That quotes comes from the “SF Business Times” article I linked to above. If you’ve come across something different, please provide the linkage.
Actually JC the article in the SF Biz times is not very clear it seems to contradict itself.
Previously the Adult magazine arm could not be sold but now it seems the “Whole magazine” buisness has been sold.???
I think Here got everything the real question will they keep them all in publication?
I think not they should drop all but Freshmen (adult titles)which seems to be successful(based on bookstore sales figs) if you can call any magazines sales succesful now adays.
DeWayne, et. al. — As you can see, I tracked down someone at SpecPub. Thanks to a vaguely worded press release (which may have been intentional) from PlanetOut and some misreporting elsewhere, it wasn’t clear that, yes, SpecPub was part of the deal with Regent Releasing/Here Networks.
Regards,
JCA
LOL So they wanted to sweep the Adult Mags in with the respectable Advocate and Out! And hope Wall Street didn’t notice!
NAH
Here Networks bought themselves a passel of Dick Mags,Skin Trade,DIRTY Mags,etc
You know something its typical METROSEXUAL Behavior!
I had a Lesbian friend once tell me she would rather have spread of Gay Porn mags on a coffee table than Hustler,Penthouse,etc
I said whats the difference they are all skin mags?
She said It’s all in the attitude
Penthouse,Hustler are all about the degradation & subjugation of women (which is why feminists hate them)
The male mags (InTouch,Freshman etc) are all about the beauty and sensuality of the male physique.
There is your fundamental difference right there
We will have to wait for an official statement on this issue from Regent Releasing and Planetout when they finalize their deal. Citizen Crain claims that SpecPub isn’t part of the Planeout/Here! deal http://citizenchris.typepad.com/citizenchris/2008/04/planetout-sells.html
Speciality Publications’ corporate name is Speciality Publications, INC., which suggests that SpecPub is a separate corporate entity from Planetout and LPI(LPI was the original company that owned The Advocate and SpecPub).
Finally, the quote about SpecPub in the SF Journal article you linked to was made last week in an article about the deal between Expedia and Planetout for the outsourcing of Planetout’s travel booking service.
I recall hearing that the whole PlaentOut empire was for sale. Are they still looking to unload the core websites? Interesting that the print businesses were the first to be sold.
I wonder why Planetout could buy LPI for $31.1 million and then run it into the ground for a sale of $6 million.