February 24, 2010 — Active Interest Media, Inc. (AIM) announced February 23 the acquisition of Source Interlink’s Equine Network and the Horse Media Group. The new publishing group, AIM’s Equine Network, will cover all facets of the horse world and include the industry’s most respected magazines and web sites.
The new group will include American Cowboy print and online, acquired by AIM in 2007, as well as Source Interlink’s print titlesEQUUS, Horse & Rider, Practical Horseman, Dressage Today, Arabian Horse World, Discover Horses, EquiManagement and websites Equine.com, EquiSearch.com, EquiShopper.com, DiscoverHorses.com and www.EquineNetworkStore.com and the Horse Media Group’s Spin to Win Rodeo and Trail Rider magazines and online properties MyHorse.com, HitchUpMagazine.com and HorselinkMagazine.com. The total audience offered by the new group is well over 700,000 readers and 500,000 unique visitors per month.
“The world of horses is a quintessential enthusiast market and fits perfectly with Active Interest Media’s strategy and capabilities,” said Efrem “Skip” Zimbalist III, CEO of AIM. Andy Clurman, chief operating officer of AIM, added “This is a rare opportunity to bring together two great publishing groups, their leading brands and excellent teams to serve horse enthusiasts. We look forward to working with the equine communities to serve their media and information needs and help promote their activities.”
Jim Gillis, President and Chief Operating Officer of Source said, “AIM has earned a reputation of being a special interest media company that truly understands and is able to fulfill the needs of the enthusiast. It’s an outstanding opportunity for every stakeholder with our equine brands to become part of this special interest media family. We all expect great things to come from this merger.”
Chris Argentieri, Chief Operating Officer of Source Interlink Media, added “We look forward to a close relationship with AIM as we work together to leverage our circulation and newsstand expertise to assist AIM in continuing to grow and strengthen their world class enthusiast brands.”
Susan Harding, vice president and group publishing director of Source Interlink’s Equine Network, said, “AIM has earned the reputation of being a special interest group that truly understands and is able to fulfill the needs of the enthusiast. It’s an outstanding opportunity for our magazines and web sites to continue to provide horse owners with the information they need and want and to help grow the horse industry. I expect great things to come from this.”
Tom Winsor, general manager for HMG, said, “This is such an exciting development for me personally, for our employees, and certainly for our advertisers and readers. I think one of the greatest advantages will be the spirit behind this group. Yes, it will be far and away the most comprehensive equine publishing team in history, reaching the largest cross-section of the horse industry with one coordinated buy. But it will still be, ultimately, a collection of equine titles and online properties created and managed by horse people, for the benefit of other horse people. It’s this passion that’s made each brand so successful and will make them equally so as a group.”
“This new group will be an incredibly potent opportunity for advertisers and for our readers,” said Dave Andrick, associate group publishing director for Source Interlink’s Equine Network. “We’re working on incredible projects that cross all media platforms in new and exciting ways. By combining forces we can share resources, so that kind of leading-edge thinking is going to be even more powerful.”
For more information about AIM, visit aimmedia.com.
