Des Moines-based Active Interest Media buys Connecticut publisher with similar focus
A magazine publisher with offices in Des Moines just got a lot bigger ― and it's not Better Homes & Garden owner Dotdash Meredith.
Active Interest Media says it has acquired Taunton Press, a long-time publisher and media business in Newtown, Connecticut. The purchase price was not disclosed.
AIM, with headquarters on Grand Avenue not far west of the landmark Meredith campus, already is a publisher of craft and hobby-oriented magazines, and the purchase “effectively doubles AIM’s reach and influence across gardening, woodworking and homebuilding,” according to a news release announcing the acquisition.
AIM moved its headquarters to Des Moines after its 2015 purchase of Des Moines-based August Home Publishing and its Woodsmith magazine in October of 2015. AIM previously was headquartered in Boulder, Colorado, where it continues to maintain facilities.
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In addition to Woodsmith, AIM titles include Shopnotes, Popular Woodworking, Garden Gate, Horticulture and Cuisine at Home. Other brands owned by AIM include Yachts International, Power & Motoryacht, Soundings, Passagemaker, Woodshop News, Log and Timber Home Living, Old House Journal, Writer’s Digest, Numismatic News and Kovels Antique Trader.
Taunton Press titles include Fine Woodworking, Fine Homebuilding, Green Building Advisor, Fine Gardening and Threads. The company has also publishes craft-oriented books.
AIM will maintain staff and an office that includes a woodshop in Connecticut, said Amanda Phillips, vice president of marketing for AIM. Phillips declined to specify how many employees are at each location but said the company has 225 workers across the country, most of whom work remotely.
AIM, Taunton subjects mesh well
Don Peschke, a self-described "old hippie" who had worked for Meredith but didn't cotton to the corporate culture there, left to found August Home in 1978 and publish a newsletter on his passion, woodworking. He turned it into Woodsmith and added other titles as the business flourished.
Almost 1,200 miles away, Jan and Paul Roman launched the Taunton Press in 1975 by with the launch of another publication devoted to the carpenterial craft, Fine Woodworking.
The Romans’ daughter, Andrea Roman, board chair at Taunton Press, said AIM is “an excellent home for Taunton.”
“The two companies share a dedication to producing high-quality information, and inspiring enthusiasts for hands-on living," Roman said is a news release. "AIM’s leadership, scale and resources will provide a strong foundation for the next generation of Taunton’s growth, and the combined organization will provide new opportunities for our employees.”
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Des Moines-based Active Interest Media purchases Taunton Press
