Marvel buys Welsh Publishing - Marvel Entertainment Group - Brief Article

Folio: The Magazine for Magazine Management, Nov 15, 1994

Marvel Entertainment Group, attracted by the licensing and publishing expertise of Welsh Publishing Group founder and president Don Welsh, has purchased the New York City-based publisher for an undisclosed amount. Welsh, whose company made its name producing kids magazines spun off from TV, movie and toy characters such as Mickey Mouse and Barbie, becomes executive vice president in charge of the magazines and several of Marvel's own titles.

He also gets his wish to be part of a bigger player in publishing. Welsh last year sold a 49 percent stake in the company to Cypress Capital Partners L.P., a Dallas-based venture capital firm, with plans to grow before going public. (Marvel acquired that stake, as well as Welsh's 51 percent share of Quake, a joint venture with Cowles Magazines.) Welsh has long maintained that a mid-size publisher like his own company (with revenues in the $50 million range) had to be much larger to compete in today's publishing world. For Marvel, the acquisition lessens the reliance on its comic-book division and beefs up its entry into the licensing field. Marvel, 80 percent of which is owned by Ronald Perelman's MacAndrews & Forbes Holdings, launched its first magazines earlier this year--Spiderman and a joint venture with the National Football League called Pro Action. Welsh says the company can now leverage Marvel characters such as the X-Men and Iron Man into new titles. Marvel can also offer combination ad buys with an audience of several million, the better to attract packaged foods companies such as General Foods.