British-based Future plc, a global publisher for specialist media, has acquired the joint venture to produce Marie Claire US, the premium women’s lifestyle brand. Hearst published Marie Claire in the US in a JV with Marie Claire International and Future said it had bought the title from both owners.
Future said the acquisition will strengthen the organisation’s position in the women’s lifestyle vertical in North America in line with its strategic approach for expansion and further diversification in the territory.
Zillah Byng-Thorne, CEO of Future, said: “With nearly 17.5 million visitors a month, this is a flagship women’s lifestyle brand and I’m delighted that we are adding it to our already strong Women’s Lifestyle Vertical.
“Our continued growth and success is proof of our strategy in action. We’ve had fantastic results expanding the Marie Claire UK brand and we believe that with our expertise in terms of audience, ecommerce and platform, we can develop the offering to grow the Marie Claire US audience significantly.”
Jean de Boisdeffre executive director of MC International said: “We are thrilled with this new co-operation with Future. We strongly believe that this agreement will create a new, and even more successful era for the Marie Claire brand in the US and Canadian markets. We are sure this will be an exceptional fit between our brand and the Future Group’s expertise, that will create opportunities to leverage and expand Marie Claire into new and exciting business territories.”
Marie Claire US joins Future’s successful stable of women’s lifestyle brands including Marie Claire UK, Woman&Home, GoodToKnow and new launch MyImperfectLife.com. It will increase the organisation’s global monthly reach in this vertical to 30m.
Future has simultaneously entered into a licence to produce Marie Claire US for the next five years.
Future acquired Marie Claire in the UK last year where it is a digital first brand. Are Media publishes Marie Claire in Australia.