WILL HACHETTE SAVE MIRABELLA?
Byline: L.L.
NEW YORK — Hachette Filipacchi is close to rescuing Mirabella, according to market sources, and a deal could be completed by Monday.
Hachette reportedly plans to cut Mirabella’s frequency in half, publishing it every other month.
Hachette publishes Elle, Elle Decor, Metropolitan Home, Car & Driver and Road & Track, among others. This month, Hachette acquired Family Life from Wenner Media and also signed a deal to publish George, John F. Kennedy Jr.’s political magazine.
According to sources, Leslie Hinton, chief executive of News America Publishing Inc., parent of Mirabella, called magazine staffers into a meeting Thursday afternoon and told them a deal with Hachette was imminent.
Sources said Hinton indicated that Hachette would probably take 10 to 20 Mirabella employees (out of 100) but didn’t specify who they might be.
Dominique Browning, editor-in-chief of Mirabella, was reportedly called into a meeting last week and asked if she’d be interested in editing a magazine published every other month, but she turned it down. Hinton told the employees they would be given a two-month severance package if they weren’t among the group that goes to “Mirabella at Hachette.”
As reported, News America Publishing put Mirabella on the selling block last week and said the May issue would be the last it would publish. The firm said it would spend 10 to 15 days looking for a buyer, and if no one showed up the magazine would be shuttered.
Mirabella editors were shopping around their stories and art work this week, but sources said they were told to stop doing that because the material would be considered part of the magazine’s assets.
Hachette officials could not be reached for comment.