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Art criticism is now truly in the hands of the few. News broke last night that ARTnews would buy out Art in America (kind of). These are some details to help you try to figure out what’s actually happening, and what’s just speculation. Please feel free to add your own in the comments section.
THE BIG NAMES
BMP Media Holding LLC: Part of Peter Brant’s Brant Publications, and current owners of Art in America.
ARTNEWS S.A.: Headed up by CEO Izabela Depczyk, it was created in 2014, after a merger with Abbey House Group S.A., and is composed of two segments: ARTnews and Skate’s. It is a publicly traded company.
Other players: Skate Capital, artnet AG, Sergey Skaterschikov, Peter Brant, Izabela Depczyk, Abbey House Group S.A.
FACTS
- Art in America and ARTnews magazines are merging. The two magazines will now be offering a bundled subscription offer under the merger.
Upon completing the merger of the two companies, ARTNEWS S.A. will maintain Art in America on its current publication schedule of 11 issues a year and will launch a new bundled print subscription offer under the Art in America brand with ARTnews focusing on special themed editions that have proven successful with the readers, such as the best-selling ARTnews issue ‘The World’s Top 200 Collectors”. The Magazine Antiques and Modern Magazine will continue as quarterly editions. Source: Press release from Rubenstein Associates
- ARTnews now owns Art in America, the magazine.
BMP Media Holding LLC [owners of Art in America] will transfer 100% ownership interest in Art in America, The Magazine Antiques, Modern Magazine and related archives and digital properties to ARTNEWS S.A. Source: Press release from Rubenstein Associates
- However, Peter Brant’s BMP Media Holding LLC now has a ton of stock in ARTNEWS S.A., including a controlling stake, and voting rights over the company’s direction. BMP now holds a 47.61 percent stake in ARTNEWS S.A., says Reuters.
Under terms of the deal, Brant Publication’s BMP Media Holdings LLC will become the majority shareholder of ARTNEWS S.A. Source: Press release from Rubenstein Associates
- ARTNEWS S.A. offices will stay in Poland. Art in America offices will move to ARTnews’ New York headquarters in October, according to an internal email forwarded to artnet News. Source: Reuters, artnet News
- Skate Capital, a previous owner of ARTnews—but only for a short period of time in 2014—will still continue to own shares in ARTnews. Skates did shed a few million shares, though.
Skate Capital to sell 6,400,500 shares of Artnews to BMP for $3.4 million. Source: Reuters
- Everyone has their finger in the publishing pie.
ARTnews owns stock in artnet AG; Skate’s Capital used to own stock in artnet AG and its principal Sergey Skaterschikov was on the board at Redline Capital Management, which tried to take over artnet AG in a hostile takeover bid; Skate’s Capital owns stock in ARTnews; and ARTnews owns stock in artnet AG. [And now, BMP Media Holding LLC owns stock in ARTNEWS S.A..] Source: artnet News, the Observer, the Internet and others; one of the best articles on the failed bid by Redline Capital Management to overtake artnet AG is by Charlotte Burns at The Art Newspaper (print only).
QUESTIONS WE CAN ONLY ANSWER WITH “WE DON’T KNOW”
- Will more art writers lose their jobs in the consolidation?
- Will Art in America online be no more?
- Why are collectors madly swapping shares and ownership rights in art media companies?
- Why is there such overlap among major investors?
SPECULATION
“There is just one life raft. All aboard, as long as there’s not too many of you.” That reaction came from a CEO who would prefer to remain anonymous. Whether ARTnews ends up being the life raft for online and offline art publishing still remains to be seen.
This may not be at odds with ARTnews S.A.’s mission, which states “By 2017 ARTNEWS S.A. seeks to become the largest specialized art media firm worldwide in terms of revenues and customers.” Whether this mantel will have any significance by then, though, seems to be an open question. Source: ARTNEWS S.A. Investor Relations
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Who will be the editor?
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