F+W Explained

Status:Defunct (2019)
Founder:Edward Rosenthal
Country:United States
Headquarters:New York City, New York
Publications:Magazines, books
Numemployees:700

F+W (formerly F+W Publications and F+W Media) was a media and e-commerce company headquartered in New York City.Founded in 1913 in Cincinnati, F+W published magazines, books, digital products (including e-books and e-magazines), produced online video, offered online education, and owned and operated e-stores, as well as consumer and trade shows.[1]

History

F+W was named after two of its early publications: Farm Quarterly and Writer's Digest.[2] The company grew though a series of acquisitions, including book publisher David & Charles, Krause Publications in 2002,[3] Horticulture magazine, and Adams Media in 2003. The private equity firm ABRY Partners purchased F+W in 2005.[4] In August 2012 F+W Media acquired Interweave, an arts and crafts media company based in Loveland, Colorado.[5] In 2014, F+W Media acquired New Track Media,[6] renamed itself F+W,[7] and was acquired by the private equity company Tinicum.[8]

In 2008, the company began to focus more on e-commerce activities and offering products and services related to the content of its magazines.[9] The e-commerce business grew from one store with $6 million in revenue in 2008 to 31 e-commerce stores with more than $65 million for 2015. In May 2017, some creditors received a 97% stake in the company in exchange for debt relief and a new line of credit.[10] [11]

Demise

In January 2018, with the CEO and two other top executives leaving the company,[12] F+W slashed its workforce by 40%.

F+W filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on March 10, 2019.[13] The book publishing assets of the company were won by Penguin Random House at a bankruptcy auction in June 2019.[14] The grouping of the assets drew criticism.[15] Several properties including Sky & Telescope were sold individually.[16]

Overview

F+W Media was a special interest content provider and marketer of enthusiast magazines, books, conferences, trade shows, and interactive media properties.

F+W's special-interest categories included art, crafts, mixed media, writing, genealogy, antiques and collectibles, graphic design, hunting.[1] In 2011 the Company entered the fiction market with the acquisition of Tyrus Books.[17] In 2012, the company launched imprints in romance (Crimson Romance)[18] and young adult fiction (Merit Press).[19]

Publications were organized around some 20 community-based units, each of which focuses on a particular special interest category. The company also published about 600 new book titles annually, and had a library of some 4000 titles.

Its brands were David & Charles, Impact Books, Krause Publications, North Light Books, Writer's Digest and Interweave Press.[20]

Situation after dissolution

In June 2019, the assets of F+W were sold at bankruptcy auctions.

Assets! scope="col" style="width: 250px;"
New owner
F+W BooksBecame an imprint of Penguin Random House's Penguin Publishing Group division[21]
F&W Media InternationalBecame David & Charles again in a management buyout[22]
Crafts segment including the magazines:Peak Media Properties[23] [24]
Long Thread Media[25]
Fine Arts segment including the magazines:Peak Media Properties[26]
Construction Trade segment including the magazines:Shield Wall Media[27]
Family TreeYankee Publishing[28]
Active Interest Media
Collectibles segment consisting of the magazines:Active Interest Media
Sky & TelescopeAmerican Astronomical Society
Outdoors segment including the magazines:Media 360[29] [30]
PrintPrint Holdings LLC

Various assets of F+W were sold prior to the bankruptcy filing.[31]

Date! scope="col"
MagazineNew owner
Oct 2015 World Tea News Penton[32]
Oct 2016[33] Gun Digest Caribou Media Group[34]
Jun 2018 Blade Caribou Media Group

Notes and References

  1. News: May 3, 1999 . F&W Publications Retains Veronis, Suhler & Associates to Explore Strategic Options . The Write News . 2019-09-12.
  2. http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/history/En-Ge/F-W-Publications-Inc.html F&W Publications, Inc.
  3. Web site: Baker . Don . July 2, 2002 . F&W Inc. to Acquire Publisher Krause . . https://web.archive.org/web/20121105202709/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-88244031.html . unfit . 2012-11-05 . 2011-04-05.
  4. Web site: Newberry . Jon . August 9, 2005 . F&W Publications Now Owned by Media Group . . https://web.archive.org/web/20121105202727/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-135003359.html . unfit . 2012-11-05 . 2011-04-05.
  5. Web site: F+W Media Announces Acquisition of Interweave. Press Release. F+W Media . https://web.archive.org/web/20120803003238/http://www.fwmedia.com/press-room/interweave . 2012-08-03 . 2019-09-12.
  6. http://www.foliomag.com/2014/f-w-media-buys-new-track-media F+W Media Buys New Track Media
  7. http://www.foliomag.com/2014/f-w-media-undergoes-corporate-rebrand F+W Media Undergoes Corporate Rebrand
  8. http://www.foliomag.com/2014/f-w-sells-majority-stake-private-investment-firm-tinicum F+W Sells Majority Stake to Private Investment Firm Tinicum
  9. Web site: Corner Office: F+W Chairman & CEO David Nussbaum on the Company's Decisive Strategic Shift Toward Ecommerce . Wilson . Denis . August 1, 2015 . Publishing Executive . NAPCO Media . 2019-09-22.
  10. Silber . Tony . March 12, 2019 . Two Years At F+W Media: Behind The Scenes At A Company In Chaos . . 2019-09-12.
  11. News: Kelly . Keith J. . March 12, 2019 . Writer's Digest and Popular Woodworking publisher files Chapter 11 . . 2019-09-19.
  12. Web site: Anderson. Porter . January 9, 2018 . F+W Media Staffers Learn in a Memo That Top Executives Have Left Company. Publishing Perspectives . New York, NY . 2019-09-12.
  13. News: Specialty Publisher F+W Media Files for Bankruptcy, Plans to Sell Business . Yerak . Becky . March 11, 2019 . . 2019-03-11.
  14. Web site: Milliot . Jim . Maher . John . June 7, 2019 . PRH Acquires F+W Book Group Assets At Auction . . 2019-06-10.
  15. Web site: PRH Buys Half of F+W Media At Auction, Including Half of Writer's Digest . Hoffelder . Nate . June 8, 2019 . The Digital Reader . 2019-09-12.
  16. Dool . Greg . June 17, 2019 . F+W Media Reveals Winning Bidders at Bankruptcy Auction . Folio. Access Intelligence, LLC . 2019-09-12.
  17. Milliot . Jim . April 27, 2011 . F+W Buys Tyrus Books, Launches Crime Vertical . . 2019-09-12.
  18. Milliot . Jim . etal . July 13, 2012 . Digital Imprints Take Root . . 2019-09-12.
  19. Deahl . Rachel . May 8, 2012 . Mitchard to Launch YA Imprint for F+W . . 2019-09-12.
  20. Web site: Hovorka . Alan . F+W Media may lay off 66 people, close Krause Publications' Stevens Point office . stevenspointjournal.com . 14 March 2020.
  21. Web site: F+W Books / Overview . Penguin.com . Penguin Group USA . 2019-09-19 . 2020-08-05 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200805054223/https://www.penguin.com/publishers/penguin-publishing-group/fw-books/ . dead .
  22. Web site: F & W Media International Purchased and Renamed David & Charles . Pullen . Fiona . July 31, 2019 . CraftIndustryAlliance.org . 2019-09-19.
  23. Web site: Peak Media Properties acquires Fine Arts & Crafts assets of F+W Media . July 28, 2019 . PeakMediaProperties.com . 2019-09-19 .
  24. Web site: Peak Crafts . PeakMediaProperties.com . 2019-09-19.
  25. Web site: Long Thread Media Buys Spin Off, PieceWork, and Handwoven . Glassenberg . Abby . August 1, 2019 . CraftIndustryAlliance.org . 2019-09-22.
  26. Web site: Peak Fine Arts . PeakMediaProperties.com . 2019-09-19.
  27. Web site: Shield Wall Media Takes Ownership of F+W Media Construction Brands . Thatcher . Sharon . July 2, 2019 . Construction Magazine Network . Shield Wall Media LLC . 2019-09-19.
  28. Barber . Kayleigh . July 23, 2019 . Why Active Interest Media Salvaged 14 Titles From the F+W Bankruptcy . Folio. Access Intelligence, LLC . 2019-09-19.
  29. Web site: Media 360 Buys Deer & Deer Hunting . DDH Staff . July 2, 2019 . Deer & Deer Hunting . Media 360, LLC . 2019-09-19.
  30. News: Sorensen . Steve . July 15, 2019 . A Corporate Take-Over Taken Back . Jamestown Gazette . Chautauqua Marketing Solutions, Inc . 2019-09-19.
  31. Silber . Tony . March 11, 2019 . F+W Media, Citing Debt, Decline And Mismanagement, Files For Bankruptcy Protection . https://web.archive.org/web/20190312125742/https://www.forbes.com/sites/tonysilber/2019/03/11/fw-media-citing-debt-decline-and-mismanagement-files-for-bankruptcy-protection/ . dead . March 12, 2019 . . 2019-09-22.
  32. Mickey . Bill . October 6, 2015 . Penton Buys World Tea Media From F+W . Folio . Access Intelligence, LLC . 2019-09-19.
  33. Web site: Gun Digest Promotes Luke Hartle to Editor-in-Chief . July 26, 2018 . Tactical Wire . Outdoor Wire Digital Network . 2019-09-19.
  34. Web site: Caribou Media Group Acquires BLADE Events . Curci . Nick . June 1, 2018 . TradeShowExecutive.com . 2019-09-19 . 2018-08-16 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180816202219/http://tradeshowexecutive.com/archive/industry-news/caribou-media-group-acquires-blade-events/ . dead .

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