Hearst Magazines International And ACP Magazines To Publish Grazia In Australia

NEW YORK, May 2008 – Grazia, a popular weekly women’s magazine with nine editions around the world, will be published as a joint venture partnership between ACP Magazines in Australia and Hearst Magazines International under license from Mondadori, Grazia’s Italian parent company. The partnership continues the long-running joint venture between ACP Magazines and Hearst in Australia, with Cosmopolitan, Harper’s BAZAAR and madison magazines currently published as a collaboration between the two publishers.

Alison Veness McGourty, formerly the editor-in-chief of Harper’s BAZAAR in Australia, has been named Grazia’s editor-in-chief. The magazine will launch later this year.

Scott Lorson, chief executive officer, ACP Magazines, said: “ACP Magazines has a rich history of successful publishing partnerships, and we are delighted to announce this joint venture with Hearst. ACP Magazines and Hearst Magazines International have built a powerful business together that combines the talent and expertise of two of the world’s leading publishing houses.

“Grazia has found global acclaim in the magazine and fashion arenas, and we are extremely proud and excited to introduce it in partnership with Hearst to Australian audiences,” added Lorson.

The internationally acclaimed Grazia, which has been a runaway success in both the UK and Europe, was first published in Italy in 1938 by Mondadori, Italy’s biggest publisher of consumer magazines and one of the leading magazine publishing players in Europe.

“All of us at Hearst are delighted to be expanding our 20-year-old joint venture in Australia with ACP Magazines. We admire the international success of Grazia and believe it will be well-received in Australia,” said George Green, president and chief executive officer of Hearst Magazines International. “As we are already joint venture publishing partners with Mondadori in Italy, we are pleased to be growing our international magazine business together with publishers we know and respect.”

”This is a very proud moment in Italian publishing. Not only is it the tenth launch of Grazia, but it’s the first launch in the southern hemisphere for Mondadori,” said Fabrizio D’Angelo, head of international activities, magazine division, Mondadori. “Australia is a very significant market on an economic and strategic level, and this move will make Grazia visible on a worldwide scale. We are extremely pleased to launch Grazia in Australia with two world-renowned publishers.”

As the largest U.S. publisher of magazines worldwide, Hearst Magazines International, a unit of Hearst Corporation, publishes 152 editions of 14 titles in 55 countries in 36 languages for distribution in more than 100 countries. Major titles include powerful brand equities like Cosmopolitan which, with 58 international editions, is the largest-selling young women’s magazine and has more editions than any other magazine in the world; Esquire, Good Housekeeping, Harper’s BAZAAR, Popular Mechanics, and Seventeen. In addition, Hearst Magazines International publishes other titles through joint ventures, including Men’s Health and Runner’s World in the U.K., Madison in Australia, and The Robb Report in Russia and China. In Great Britain, a wholly-owned subsidiary, The National Magazine Company Limited, publishes 20 magazines. Hearst Magazines publishes 19 titles in the U.S.