Penske Media Corporation acquires Art Market Monitor

Penske Media CorporationPenske Media Corporation, the parent company of ARTnews, is to acquire Art Market Monitor, an online publication run by its founding editor Marion Maneker since 2008. Through the acquisition, Maneker will become editorial director of ArtNews Media, LLC, a company that oversees ARTnews and Art in America. The terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Jay Penske, Chairman and CEO of PMC, said, “In the art world, where a significantly fragmented audience spans so many websites, newsletters, and brands, PMC sees the opportunity to augment these exceptional brands with further investments in content and editorial, complemented by robust data and analytic tools, and growing an engaging live media and event business. This acquisition adds a strong subscription business that expands PMC’s reach and influence in the art vertical.”

Prior to launching Art Market Monitor, Maneker was the publisher of HarperCollins’s business books imprint from 2002 to 2007. He also served as an editor at Simon & Schuster, and his writing has appeared in New York Magazine, the New York Sun, and Slate.

Art Market Monitor offers in-depth news and analysis about the art market, and also offers a premium subscription service. In addition to its editorial offerings, the website produces a podcast called Artelligence.

PMC acquired ARTnews and Art in America in 2018. Other publications in its portfolio include Variety, WWD, Robb Report, Rolling Stone, and Indiewire.

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Future Media Group acquires W Magazine from Condé Nast

Future Media GroupFuture Media Group has acquired ‘W’ magazine from Condé Nast. The acquisition will bring W together with Surface and Watch Journal to form Future Media Group. The terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

The Group will continue to publish eight print issues of W annually while also expanding the brand’s digital and experiential footprint. Future Media Group has named Sara Moonves as the magazine’s new editor-in-chief. Moonves, who previously worked at Vogue and at T:The New York Times Style Magazine, joined the staff of W as Style Director in 2017.

Marc Lotenberg, CEO of Future Media Group, said “W has always been an extraordinary and visionary arbiter of style. For over 45 years, its pages have been filled with indelible imagery and exciting journalism. We look forward to honoring and building on that legacy. We know that W will serve as a perfect complement to the publications already in our portfolio.”

“Sara has impeccable taste and a keen eye for how a media brand should evolve in today’s fast-paced media landscape. She has enormous credibility in the fashion community, not to mention a forward-thinking sensibility that will bring W beyond its core print distribution into various offline, online and augmented formats.”

Future Media Group will operate W offices in Paris, Milan and New York, as well as a soon-to-be established bureau in Los Angeles.

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Enthusiast Gaming Media acquires The Escapist Magazine

Enthusiast GamingEnthusiast Gaming Media Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Enthusiast Gaming Inc. has acquired The Escapist Magazine from Defy Media. The terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Founded in 2005, Escapist is a leading online magazine focused on in-depth coverage of the video game industry in addition to movies, comics, TV, and more. Averaging over 6 million monthly visits since 2008, the acquisition significantly grows Enthusiast Gaming’s network and follows the successful acquisition of Destructoid.com in 2017, enhancing the company’s growth strategy as the fastest growing community of online gamers.

Former Editor-in-Chief of Escapist Russ Pitts will be returning to the position after leaving in 2011 to help Vox Media launch Polygon. Mr Pitts spent 5 years building and growing the online magazine and has an impressive track record with Escapist including: six Webby Awards, two Streamy nominations, a G.A.N.G. Award nomination, two dozen video series, over 1,000 written articles and a Time Magazine “50 Best Websites” mention.

Menashe Kestenbaum, Founder & CEO of Enthusiast Gaming, said, “The acquisition of Escapist is instrumental as we continue to grow our network of gamers. Escapist represents long form and intellectual content generation and will be another flagship platform in our network. Russ is a true visionary in online gaming journalism and we are thrilled to bring him back to lead Escapist.”

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