Are Media is an Australian media company. It was formed after the 2020 purchase of the assets of Bauer Media Australia, which had in turn acquired the assets of Pacific Magazines, AP Magazines and Australian Consolidated Press (ACP) during the 2010s. It is owned by the Sydney investment firm Mercury Capital.
Consolidated Press was established in 1936, bringing together ownership of The Daily Telegraph and Frank Packer‘s Australian Women’s Weekly. It was renamed Australian Consolidated Press (ACP) in 1957, and acquired The Bulletin in 1960
In June 2020, the Sydney investment firm Mercury Capital purchased Bauer Media’s Australian and New Zealand print and digital assets covering women’s entertainment and lifestyle; fashion, beauty and health; food; and the motoring and trader lifestyle categories. Some New Zealand brands acquired by Mercury Capital included the New Zealand Woman’s Weekly, the New Zealand Listener, and North and South.[18][19] Notable Australian assets acquired by the company include Woman’s Day, The Australian Women’s Weekly, Rolling Stone Australia, Cleo, Dolly, and Pacific Magazines.[20][21][7]
In mid-July 2020, Mercury Capital announced that it would resume publishing several former Bauer titles including Woman’s Day, the New Zealand Woman’s Weekly, The Australian Women’s Weekly NZ, home category magazine Your Home & Garden, current affairs weekly New Zealand Listener, Air New Zealand‘s in-flight magazine Kia Ora, the Property Press, and the websites Now to Love, Homes to Love and Beauty Heaven.[22][23][24] However, Mercury Capital closed down several publications including NW and Good Health, and the Australian editions of Elle, Harper’s Bazaar, InStyle, Men’s Health, OK!, Women’s Health.[25][26][27] In addition, Mercury Capital sold the New Zealand titles Metro to independent publisher Simon Chesterman and North & South to independent publishers Konstantin Richter and Verena Friederike Hasel respectively.[22][23]
In late September 2020, Bauer Media Australia was rebranded as Are Media.[28] As part of the rebrand and relaunch, the company’s CEO Brendon Hill confirmed that Are Media would be relaunching several titles including the New Zealand Woman’s Weekly, New Zealand Listener, Woman’s Day, The Australian Women’s Weekly, Your Home and Garden, and Air New Zealand’s inflight magazine Kia Ora.
| Parent company | Mercury Capital |
|---|---|
| Predecessor | Sydney Newspapers Australian Associated Newspapers Australian Consolidated Press Bauer Media Group Pacific Magazines |
| Founded | 2020 (predecessor founded in 1936) |
| Founder | Frank Packer |
| Country of origin | Australia |
| Headquarters location | Park Street, Sydney |
| Publication types | Magazines, books |
| Official website | aremedia |
