Status | Defunct (2019) |
---|---|
Founded | 1913 |
Founder | Edward Rosenthal |
Defunct | 2019 |
Country of origin | United States |
Headquarters location | New York City, New York |
Publication types | Magazines, books |
No. of employees | 700 |
Official website |
www |
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][ failed verification]
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. [9] 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]
In January 2018, with the CEO and two other top executives leaving the company, [12] F+W slashed its workforce by 40%. [11]
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]
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][ failed verification] 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]
In June 2019, the assets of F+W were sold at bankruptcy auctions. [16]
Assets | New owner |
---|---|
F+W Books | Became an imprint of Penguin Random House's Penguin Publishing Group division [14] [22] |
F&W Media International | Became David & Charles again in a management buyout [23] |
Crafts segment including the magazines: | Peak Media Properties [24] [25] |
Long Thread Media [26] | |
Fine Arts segment including the magazines: | Peak Media Properties [24] [27] |
Construction Trade segment including the magazines: | Shield Wall Media [28] |
Family Tree | Yankee Publishing [29] |
Active Interest Media [29] | |
Collectibles segment consisting of the magazines: | Active Interest Media [21] |
Sky & Telescope | American Astronomical Society [21] |
Outdoors segment including the magazines: | Media 360 [30] [31] |
Print Holdings LLC |
Various assets of F+W were sold prior to the bankruptcy filing. [32]
Date | Magazine | New owner |
---|---|---|
Oct 2015 | World Tea News | Penton [33] |
Oct 2016 [34] | Gun Digest | Caribou Media Group [35] |
Jun 2018 | Blade | Caribou Media Group [35] |
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