American Media Wants a Partner with Money



Considering the current debt load due for American Media Inc.,  it's not surprising that CEO David Pecker at today's Magazine Publisher's of America breakfast said he'd be glad for a partner like Elevation Partners, who got a reported 40 percent of Forbes for a reported $250-$300 million. Keith Kelly wrote in the NY Post that Source Interlink and AMI have been in discussions.

Pecker was answering a question from MPA chief Nina Link about whether he'd like to have strategic partners. Pecker said not a magazine company who's also in the celerity space; the seven biggies are very proprietary and protective of their brands and material, and it's not clear what synergies could be achieved, he said. But a financial partner -- show me the money! -- or a company that has expertise AMI might not, such as a TV production concern, could be a great partner, he said. He earlier had mentioned a TV company AMI was talking with about producing a series of events for, I believe, Muscle Fitness, around the country, taking a single show they've done and making it into a traveling series.

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