Almost 900 publishers – some from as far away as Cambodia – are in New York to attend the 2005 World Conference of the International Federation of the Periodical Press (FIPP) at the Waldorf Astoria. But the talk of the day was about the purchase – by the most all-American of publishing companies, the Des Moines-based Meredith Corporation – of four magazines owned by the German publishing giant, Gruner + Jahr.

Meredith has reached an agreement in principle with Gruner + Jahr to acquire Parents, Child, Fitness, and Family Circle magazines for $350 million. The transaction is subject to completion of due diligence, execution of definitive agreements, and certain closing conditions. As part of the transaction, G + J also will, until the end of June, have an option to sell Inc. and Fast Company to Meredith.

If Meredith does acquire the business publications, it currently plans to sell these magazines through a private sale or auction. G + J acquired Fast Company from New York Daily News publisher Mort Zuckerman for $300 million just before the dot-com crash in 2000.

With this sale, G + J, Europe’s largest publisher of magazines, which has long struggled to publish successfully in America will be saying auf Weidersehen and exiting the U.S. consumer magazine market. Meredith, owner of Better Homes & Gardens and Ladies’ Home Journal, is now the second-largest American publisher in terms of circulation (Time Inc. is the largest). Meredith’s titles will reach more than 135 million adult American women, according to the numbers compiled by Mediamark Research Inc. This would give it the largest female reach in the magazine industry, with a special appeal to women who are interested in their homes and families.

“This is a historic day for Meredith” said Meredith’s chairman and chief executive officer, William T. Kerr. “It is our company’s biggest magazine purchase. It has been our corporate strategy to grow our market share among younger women and to establish a significant presence in the Hispanic market.” Both these goals are accomplished by this purchase.

“With the addition of Parents, Child and Fitness, we will have added approximately 30 million female readers with a median age below 35,” said Stephen M. Lacy, Meredith’s president and chief operating officer. “Additionally, the acquisition adds to our growing presence in the Hispanic marketplace.” Ser Padres, the Spanish-language edition of Parents magazine, is an established title. “Combined with American Baby’s Hispanic titles, our custom marketing programs and the September 2005 launch of our new Spanish-language women’s title – !Siempre Mujer! – Meredith is uniquely positioned to serve Hispanic consumers, the fastest growing segment of the American population,” Mr. Lacy said.

Mr. Kerr said that Meredith and Gruner + Jahr have been in discussion about the potential purchase for more than a year and that the discussions started “mutually.” “We know each other well,” he said Russell Denson, who became president of Gruner + Jahr USA about a year ago, is known for his ability to prepare companies for sale. But he said the sale until “very recently” had been a surprise to him. Axel Ganz, president of the international division, and the G + J board in Germany, were responsible for the negotiations. Mr. Kerr and Mr. Ganz have been longtime friends, and Mr. Ganz was the original architect of G + J’s move into the American magazine world.

“Parents, Child, Fitness, and Family Circle are established and well-known magazines but have under performed in recent years,” said Mr. Kerr. “They will benefit greatly from Meredith’s proven editorial, circulation, sales, database, and brand-building expertise.” Although he said he couldn’t speak for the company he noted that G + J concluded Meredith would make “the best home for these magazines.”

In the future, Meredith magazines will be divided into three divisions: the Meredith Parenting Group, which will include the American Baby Group, Parents, and Child; the Meredith Women’s Lifestyle Group, which will include Ladies’ Home Journal, More, and Fitness; and the Meredith Mass Reach Group, which includes Better Homes and Gardens and Family Circle.

Meredith owns several home magazines, including Traditional Home, Country Home, Midwest Living, and Wood. Publishing insiders agree this is a smart move for the company. Some longtime Meredith insiders have thought Parents magazine, especially, would be a perfect fit with the other Meredith titles. Throughout the day, after the news broke, Meredith stock price increased.

***

What else was being talked about at FIPP besides the Meredith purchase?

One of the best-attended and most newsworthy sessions was “Keeping It Relevant in a 24/7 World,” moderated by Time Inc.’s Norman Pearlstine. Newsweek’s Mark Whitaker and Andreas Petzold, editor-in-chief of Stern, were on the panel. Mr. Petzold, discussing the recent controversy surrounding Newsweek, was extremely supportive of the magazine while highly critical of presidential spokesman Scott McClellan. He said McClellan’s criticism of Newsweek and his suggestion the magazine repair the “lasting damage” the story had caused was “ridiculous.” He said in Germany, a quote like McClellan’s “would have led to the downfall of the government spokesman.”

Other events included an opening night, American-style barbeque on Ellis Island and a dinner at the Museum of Modern Art. American publishers hosted parties and receptions for the participants and there were tours of the offices of Hearst, Conde Nast, and Time Inc.

Tom Ryder, chairman and CEO of the very international Reader’s Digest was the conference chair. Speakers from the American publishing industry included Time Warner Media & Communications Group chairman Don Logan, Hearst Magazine executive vice president Michael Clinton, Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S. president Jack Kliger, and Mc-Graw-Hill chairman Terry McGraw.

Mr. Kerr, by the way, is chairman of FIPP. Donald Kummerfeld, its president, has an office at Meredith’s New York location. But this week’s conference was the first ever held in the United States by the London-based organization and was co-hosted by the Magazine Publishers of America.

“The magazine industry is growing around the world, especially in Eastern Europe and in Southeast Asia,” Mr. Kummerfeld said. “We know that people want to buy and read magazines. As soon as the economy creates consumers with enough money, the opportunity for advertising and a high literacy rate, magazines flourish. In Eastern Europe, for example, in just a short time there are now very many magazines in places like Hungary and in Russia.”

Women’s magazines and business-to-business publications are usually the first magazines to start. “Now we are seeing that celebrity magazines like OK! and Hello have been very successful in different places,” Mr. Kummerfeld said. “Also there are many editions of Cosmopolitan and Elle magazine around the world. About half the magazines that are licensed come from America, like ‘Cosmo’ and Men’s Health. About half are from Western Europe. It is not so much that publishers in these countries need the magazine’s title or the content. But they want the business expertise that American or Western European publishers have.”

Foreign publishers were very eager to come to New York, making this FIPP’s largest conference ever. And some are visiting other parts of the country. “The Chinese contingent is going on to Washington as guests of National Geographic,” Mr. Kummerfeld said. “Then they are going on to Buffalo.” Why Buffalo? “Well, it seems that their travel agent has convinced them that they really had to see Niagara Falls!”