Dennis Publishing will be working with AMI to expand the title internationally, targeting key territories where fitness and active pursuits are fast growing sectors. By making available both the UK and US content to potential licensees, Men's Fitness will become a far more compelling international launch proposition, says Dennis. Dennis Publishing has developed and supported over 300 licenses worldwide. The agreement with AMI taps into this extensive network and experience.
Men's Fitness is one of the fastest growing brands in the UK and in the recent set of ABCs it was the only title in the men’s sector to see an increase in its newsstand sales, says the publisher. The brand already operates successful events such as the Men's Fitness Rough Track Triathlon in the UK, and the magazine itself has an ABC of 67,987. Under the full ownership of Dennis Publishing Ltd in the UK, the title aims to grow further and at a faster rate and will also become a platform for more events and published products.
Dennis Publishing has published Men's Fitness in the UK and Ireland since 2001 under commercial license from New York based AMI (American Media Inc). The license acquisition from AMI means Dennis Publishing has full rights over the magazine content and any Men's Fitness brand activity in the UK and Ireland. All other international editions of Men’s Fitness will continue to be published under license from AMI.
The acquisition of the Men's Fitness license will see no change to the existing editorial and commercial teams at Dennis Publishing and James Burnay will continue as the Publishing Director and Pete Muir as Editorial Director.
James Tye (pictured), CEO, Dennis Publishing Ltd said: “Men's Fitness has smartly bucked the trend in UK publishing, adding both newsstand sales and advertising pages in the last year. The superb editorial mix of fitness advice and lifestyle features is absolutely right for this growing market and it is now time to take the brand to the next level. The alliance with AMI and the acquisition of the license is the first step in an aggressive programme of expansion for Men's Fitness and for Dennis Publishing's presence in this category.”
David Pecker, CEO, Chairman of the Board, American Media Inc said: “Partnering with Dennis is a strategic move for AMI in helping to further one of our goals and aggressively develop Men's Fitness as an International Power Brand the world over. Our strong relationship with Dennis Publishing over the last eight years has made the decision to form this alliance a very natural progression. Combining the assets and efforts of both companies, each experienced in global licensing, offers existing as well as upcoming Men's Fitness editions much more; as it provides a very unique licensing package and creates tremendous advantage over the competition around the world.”
