SOLD! MSL Bought By Sequential Brands Group

It was announced this morning that Sequential Brands Group has, indeed, purchased Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia for approximately $353-million, bringing an end to the independent status of the media and merchandising conglomerate founded by Martha Stewart in 1997. Martha Stewart herself will become a "significant shareholder" in a new public holding company that will be set up by Sequential Brands for Martha Stewart Living. She will also be nominated to serve on its board of directors. The deal is half cash, half stock. According to a news release, Martha will "continue to be an integral part of the brand she founded" and will maintain her title as Chief Creative Officer of her brand.

Comments from Martha regarding the sale: 

"This is a transformational merger for Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, the company I founded in 1997. This merger is positioned to further the growth and expansion of the unique Martha home and lifestyle brand. In 1991, I started a magazine, Martha Stewart Living, which was the first of its kind. Out of our groundbreaking editorial content grew an influential brand which quickly evolved into other media, merchandising and digital platforms and products which have helped consumers, worldwide, live better, more fulfilling lives. With our media business operations now successfully transitioned to Meredith, we now have the opportunity to tap into Sequential's expertise and resources to expand our merchandising business both domestically and abroad. The Sequential team is smart, hardworking, and understands the power and limitless opportunity of the Martha Stewart brand and its formidable design, editorial and marketing teams. I'm looking forward to working with them."

Yehuda Shmidman, CEO of Sequential, commented:

"Martha Stewart's impact around the world is staggering, and the empire she founded is unmatched in its industry. In fact, research shows that the Martha Stewart brand has 96% awareness among women in the U.S. and 7 out of 10 women say that Martha has and does influence the way they think about, organize, and manage their homes. Looking ahead, we believe that we can leverage our global activation platform at Sequential in partnership with Martha and her team to develop the next chapter of growth for the Martha Stewart brand. We are honored to have this opportunity and thrilled to be working together with Martha Stewart."

The deal will not be completely finalized until later this year.