Essay on Time Warner and IPC Media

'Time Warner's takeover of British publish IPC Media has given the N.M.E brand a new lease of life.' Discuss.

Time Warner (Inc) is one of the leading media companies in the world. In 2001 Time Inc reached a definitive agreement to acquire IPC Group Limited parent company of IPC Media, from Cinven, one of Europe's leading private equity firms. The purchase price is £1.15 billion including the cash in the company.
IPC is the United Kingdom's leading consumer magazine publisher with approximately 100 brands, selling 350 million magazines annually. It is focused on five core area's: Women; TV; Home and Garden; Leisure; and Men's Lifestyle & Entertainment. Its titles target a broad range of audiences and interests include Britain's biggest-selling magazine What's on TV, plus TVTimes, Woman, Woman's Own, Marie Claire, Loaded, NME, Country Life and Horse and Hound.
In 1998 IPC acquired Link House Median, adding over 30 brands to its portfolio, and has also launched a total of 12 new print and online brands, plus numerous brand extensions, since the buyout. At this important time the two brands combined, Don Logan, Chairman and CEO of Time Inc stated, ''This is the perfect acquisition of AOL Time Warner because it accomplishes key strategic goals for the company. With some of the best know consumer publishing brands in Europe, IPC provides Time Inc with an important presence within the European consumer publishing sector. This acquisition also furthers AOL Time Warner's goal of expanding our operations outside the U.S. In addition to strengthening our magazine publishing business with a number of quality titles, IPC will provide us with valuable synergies with other AOL Time Warner brands, We look forward to working with IPC's management team in continuing to build this tremendous business,'' Mr Logan added. Brian Linden, a director of Cinven said, ''We are delighted to have worked closely with the management team of IPC in shaping a company with a focused product offering and a market-leading position. We're obviously pleased that, as a result of careful investment and management, IPC has now become such an attractive proposition to Time Inc, the world's leading publisher.'' Michael Pepe, President and CEO of Time Inc International, to whom IPC will report, said, ''IPC represents a unique opportunity to establish Time Inc as a major player in the international arena and provides an ideal platform for future growth.'' Sly Bailey, CEO of IPC, said ''We are now looking forward to becoming part of the world's largest media company.'' IPC Media of course should be grateful for gaining the opportunity to work with Time Inc as after all, it is the world's preeminent magazine publisher. It is also a leading direct marketer of music and video products and a provider for content for the Internet. Time Inc is wholly owned subsidiary of AOL Time Warner Inc, the world's first interent powered media and communications company, who industry-leading businesses include interactive services, cable systems, publishing, music, networks and filmed entertainment which is what helps in making the company so successful and therefore, could really help IPC Media in a variety of ways.
Now the two companies have joined, one of IPC Media's popular issues in NME. NME is aimed at young people (those between the ages of 15-34) and aims to tell its audience all about the latest upcoming music stars, the venue's they are playing and and most importantly interesting them in the newest music available. Now that IPC Media and Time Inc have joined NME is now catering to a wider ranger of audience as Time Warner are an America company and IPC Media are in Europe, therefore they are now maximising potential for advertisign across a Multi-media platform. In other words, they can break into a new market, which of course helps to sell more products. Now that the two brands have come together, it also eliminates any competition, if they were to issue a leading music magazine for example. Both brands now have financial security and the comfort of knowing they have new markets and audiences they can target. By having financial security NME can develop and more copies can be sold as more can be made.