Rumours have circulated over the weekend that Apple could be buying publishing giant, Condé Nast.
Although The Guardian cited no sources when it reported the story on Sunday, the paper says the acquisition talk likely resulted from Apple buying Texture last month, which is a digital magazine subscription service that Condé partly owns.
Condé Nast chief executive officer, Bob Sauberg, quickly denied the speculations, informing the New York Post that “we are not for sale.”
Insiders predict that a sale price could be anywhere between US$1 billion and US$2 billion.
A source close to the Newhouse family, who own the company, insist the family is doing well financially and do not need the money this sale would provide, thanks to their highly successful cable enterprises. “I think you’ll see a lot of Condé Nast for sale rumors, but I think they’d rather sit on these assets for the time being and see what they can make of them on the digital front in the next year to 18 months.”
Currently in the process of a new round of cost-cutting actions, Condé Nast is actioning restructure plans set out by the McKinsey consulting firm in attempts to compensate for their US$100 million loss on last year’s earnings. Part of the cost-cutting plan is a geographic reshuffle consolidation, with Condé Nest squeezing offices together in the Conde 1 World Trade Center building so that they can rent out unoccupied floors. They are also hoping to sublease a third of their total floors, with all magazines said to eventually be affected.
