BlackBook's take on fashion figures in the upcoming issue.
Photo By WWD Staff
LET'S MAKE A DEAL: Ron Burkle and American Media Inc.'s David Pecker are said to be meeting with banks to finalize the financing for Source Interlink Co., controlled by Burkle-owned Yucaipa Cos., to acquire AMI. So what would the allegedly press-shy Burkle want with Shape, Star, the National Enquirer and Men's Fitness? Well, perhaps not a lot. His interest appears mainly to be in AMI's magazine distribution company DSI, the purchase of which would make Source Interlink one of the largest magazine distributors in the country. Sources close to the deal expect Pecker to become head of the new company, despite a very rough patch over the last few years that included falling rate bases and restated financials at AMI.
Yucaipa in May acquired Primedia's Enthusiast Group for about $1.2 billion, expanding Burkle's publishing footprint to include Motor Trend, Hot Rod and Soap Opera Digest (Burkle is also believed to be an investor in pop culture monthly Radar). Sources say Burkle has made few changes to the management structure at Primedia, where Steve Parr still serves as president, and was waiting until a deal with AMI was finalized before shuffling around the top brass at Burkle's new media holdings. Negotiations between Burkle and AMI slowed this summer while AMI caught up on reporting its financials to the Securities and Exchange Commission, part of the ongoing drama at the beleaguered tabloid publisher. Its numbers are now up-to-date — for the first quarter of 2007, which AMI released in October, it saw a 5.6 percent growth in revenues, to $122 million, but a net loss of $123,000. — Stephanie D. Smith
HIM AGAIN: Never one to give up his 15 minutes, Kevin Federline is a tabloid cover regular, and this fall there was the arty aberration of L'Officiel Hommes' cover. Now the former Mr. Britney Spears is on the December cover of Details, shot by Steven Klein and out in a few weeks, according to a source. (For the confused who think the December issue is the one on the stands with Jonathan Rhys Meyers on the cover — surprise — that's the "Holiday" issue.) It'll be Federline's second time on the cover: in March 2005, editor in chief Dan Peres did the Q&A himself and was joined for part of it by Spears. Those were the days of evident domestic bliss: "S--t, I could go on forever about my love for this girl...I could be sitting at home doing nothing, I could be playing f--king video games. She's more proud of me than anyone has ever, ever, ever been in my lifetime," Federline said then, going on to test that very theory — apparently unsuccessfully. Despite his candor, Federline wasn't a particularly good seller for Details in 2005: at 61,179 on the newsstand, it was the second worst-selling issue of the year, though that was flat compared with the same month in 2004. A spokeswoman for the magazine declined to comment on the cover or who did the interview. — Irin Carmon
Yucaipa in May acquired Primedia's Enthusiast Group for about $1.2 billion, expanding Burkle's publishing footprint to include Motor Trend, Hot Rod and Soap Opera Digest (Burkle is also believed to be an investor in pop culture monthly Radar). Sources say Burkle has made few changes to the management structure at Primedia, where Steve Parr still serves as president, and was waiting until a deal with AMI was finalized before shuffling around the top brass at Burkle's new media holdings. Negotiations between Burkle and AMI slowed this summer while AMI caught up on reporting its financials to the Securities and Exchange Commission, part of the ongoing drama at the beleaguered tabloid publisher. Its numbers are now up-to-date — for the first quarter of 2007, which AMI released in October, it saw a 5.6 percent growth in revenues, to $122 million, but a net loss of $123,000. — Stephanie D. Smith
HIM AGAIN: Never one to give up his 15 minutes, Kevin Federline is a tabloid cover regular, and this fall there was the arty aberration of L'Officiel Hommes' cover. Now the former Mr. Britney Spears is on the December cover of Details, shot by Steven Klein and out in a few weeks, according to a source. (For the confused who think the December issue is the one on the stands with Jonathan Rhys Meyers on the cover — surprise — that's the "Holiday" issue.) It'll be Federline's second time on the cover: in March 2005, editor in chief Dan Peres did the Q&A himself and was joined for part of it by Spears. Those were the days of evident domestic bliss: "S--t, I could go on forever about my love for this girl...I could be sitting at home doing nothing, I could be playing f--king video games. She's more proud of me than anyone has ever, ever, ever been in my lifetime," Federline said then, going on to test that very theory — apparently unsuccessfully. Despite his candor, Federline wasn't a particularly good seller for Details in 2005: at 61,179 on the newsstand, it was the second worst-selling issue of the year, though that was flat compared with the same month in 2004. A spokeswoman for the magazine declined to comment on the cover or who did the interview. — Irin Carmon
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