Martha Stewart sells business empire for $353 million

Martha Stewart Sells Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia For $353 Million

From the bank to the bing and back again…

Via DailyMail

Martha Stewart’s empire of recipes, spatulas, pots and books is heading to a new place.

Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia will be acquired by Sequential Brands in a cash-and-stock deal valued at about $353 million.

Martha Stewart will remain as chief creative officer and will be nominated for the board, where she is now non-executive chair. She’ll also be a ‘significant’ stockholder.

Sequential Brands Group Inc., which owns and licenses a number of consumer brands including Ellen Tracy, Jessica Simpson and Linens ‘n Things, will pay $6.15 per share. That is below the company’s Friday closing price of $6.98. Shares tumbled 14 percent in early trading.

‘The merger adds a new vertical to Sequential’s platform, which is expected to generate nearly $3.75 billion in annual global retail sales from a combined portfolio of consumer brands in the home, fashion, lifestyle and active categories,’ Sequential said.

The deal is expected to close in the second half of the year.

The rich get richer…

Image via WENN