Bonnier Buys Nine Motorcycle Brands, Sells Others

Bonnier Corporation is making moves again. The publishing house has purchased nine motorcycle magazines from Source Interlink Media. In case you didn't even know there were nine motorcycle magazines, included in the deal are Motorcyclist, Sport Rider, Dirt Rider, Motorcycle Cruiser, Hot Bike, Baggers, Super Streetbike, Street Chopper and ATV Rider. In addition to this purchase, Bonnier is selling some of its brands to Source Interlink. Sound + Vision, TransWorld SNOWboarding, TransWorld Motocross, TransWorld SKATEboarding, TransWorldSURF, TransWorld RIDEbmx and TransWorld Business are all now part of Source Interlink's portfolio. In a memo announcing the buy, Dave Freygang, Bonnier's CEO, wrote that this would be the last major change for the company. Just last week Bonnier bought and then folded Parenting and Babytalk. Below is the full note from Freygang. Dear staff, I want to share with you the news of our acquisition of multiple motorcycle brands from Source Interlink: Motorcyclist, Sport Rider, Dirt Rider, Motorcycle Cruiser, Hot Bike, Baggers, Super Streetbike, Street Chopper and ATV Rider. The acquisition supports Bonnier’s strategy to be focused in vertical enthusiast interest media, in this case, creating the world’s largest motorcycle media group. Since the acquisition of Cycle World in 2011, we’ve realized that the opportunities within the motorcycle market are significant. Today’s news will provide for both revenue and significant profit growth this year and in years to come. At the same time, Bonnier is selling to Source Interlink Sound + Vision, TransWorld SNOWboarding, TransWorld Motocross, TransWorld SKATEboarding, TransWorld, SURF, TransWorld RIDEbmx and TransWorld Business. The staff in Carlsbad, California, and New York was informed this morning. I want to thank the staff at TransWorld for their progressive work and competitiveness, especially in the areas of video and social media. These brands demonstrated vision in the change of content consumption by their audiences, and the staff’s efforts to adapt to these changes have provided valuable lessons for the rest of us at Bonnier. The staff at Sound + Vision has dedicated itself to consistently serving its audience with best-in-class content and has shown us all that excellence can be achieved without the benefit of a huge staff. The transactions today are the last in a series of moves we have implemented to transform our company to one that will achieve revenue growth and sustained profitability. I realize this spring has brought significant change to our company. I also recognize that change creates uncertainty. Please be certain of this: We have our operating groups and brands in place, and we have the right people to allow us to achieve our goals. Thanks for your continued support. Dave Freygang

Fishbowl

Bonnier Buys Nine Motorcycle Brands, Sells Others

Chris O'Shea

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