Bloomberg Buys BusinessWeek; Still a Bargain Despite the Crushing Debt
It was announced a few minutes ago that BusinessWeek will be sold to Bloomberg for a “cash offer in the $2 million to $5 million range.” Here’s run down of the plans post-sale:
– The logo will eventually incorporate the Bloomberg name in some still-undetermined way.
– They will continue to publish weekly in print and around the clock online.
– They’re not sure if the Bloomberg and BusinessWeek sites will merge.
– BusinessWeek brand will be used aggressively to bolster Bloomberg TV, radio and mobile operations.
– BusinessWeek’s losses this year are projected to in excess of $40 million, some of which will be assumed by Bloomberg.
As a company with 400 well-paid employees for a weekly publication, I’m curious as to how Bloomberg will make moves to bring the magazine back to profitability, or it will be simply used as a loss-leader to promote the other media brands.
In the new print economy, it’s difficult to imagine any New Media entity creating so little content with so many employees.
Still, even with the actual cost to Bloomberg being potentially as high as $45 million, it’s a decent bargain for the brand alone, which could easily be rehabilitated into a powerhouse multi-media entity or act as a engagement path to other Bloomberg media properties.
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