Contact Information: Contacts: Jessica Kleiman Hearst Magazines 212-649-2545 Michael Volpatt Larkin Volpatt 415-692-0100
Hearst Magazines to Acquire RealAge, Inc.
Hearst Adds Leading Consumer Health Information Web Site to Its Portfolio
| Source: Hearst Magazines
NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwire - September 17, 2007) - Hearst Magazines, a unit of Hearst
Corporation, today announced that it will acquire RealAge, Inc., a
consumer-health media company and provider of personalized health
information and management tools. The announcement was made by Cathleen P.
Black, president, Hearst Magazines and Charlie Silver, founder and CEO of
RealAge. RealAge (www.realage.com) will become a wholly owned subsidiary
of Hearst and will be managed by Hearst Magazines Digital Media unit. The
privately held companies will complete the deal within the next week. Terms
were not disclosed.
RealAge was founded in 1999 by Charlie Silver and Michael Roizen, MD. The
company delivers highly targeted health and wellness content, along with
complementary advertising, to consumers who have taken the RealAge Test --
the first scientific, patented measurement of the age of your body. Based
on an analysis of more than 25,000 medical studies, RealAge identified 125
factors that influence the rate of aging -- many of which can be changed.
The company then developed the RealAge Test and website, www.realage.com,
and Dr. Roizen wrote "RealAge: Are You as Young as You Can Be?" The book
was embraced by Oprah Winfrey and quickly became a No. 1 bestseller,
providing national recognition for the RealAge brand.
After completing the 150-question RealAge Test, users receive three
results: their "real" age, a list of the factors that are making them older
and younger, and a personalized action plan to help them lower their
RealAge. Eight million opt-in members are registered on the site; 73% are
women, the majority of whom are 30 to 59 years old.
"Over the last eight years, RealAge has succeeded in establishing itself as
a credible brand in the health space and has built a sizeable consumer and
advertiser following," said Cathleen P. Black, president, Hearst Magazines.
"By acquiring RealAge, Hearst will gain immediate entry into the growing
health and wellness categories and will do so with a solid customer base
and strong ties to highly profitable online pharmaceutical advertisers."
Black added, "The readers of our women's magazines, including Good
Housekeeping, O, The Oprah Magazine, Cosmopolitan, Marie Claire and
Redbook, are highly interested in their health and wellbeing. The addition
of RealAge to our portfolio will allow us to increase our content and
expertise in this area."
"With its enormous audience of women, Hearst is the perfect partner for
RealAge," said RealAge Founder/CEO Charlie Silver. "The intersection of
demographics and content between the two companies provides for powerful
cross-promotion opportunities that will enable us to extend our tools and
expertise to a bigger audience."
RealAge has held a position in the top 10 pure-play health sites over the
last four years. For the first half of 2007, the site averaged 2.1 million
monthly unique visitors and 22 million page views. The company will
maintain its current headquarters in San Diego, Calif. UBS Investment Bank
acted as the financial advisor to RealAge.
About RealAge, Inc.
RealAge, Inc. (www.RealAge.com) is a consumer-health media company that
inspires consumers to "Live Life to the Youngest" and to pursue their
health and wellness goals by making their RealAge younger. To accomplish
this, the company has created a scalable platform that uses data to connect
individuals to relevant health and wellbeing solutions through RealAge.com.
A top-ranked, award-winning healthy-lifestyle Web site, RealAge.com
features the patented RealAge Test, which has been taken by more than 17
million people; the site is also the online home for the best-selling
RealAge and YOU books. Other media produced using the RealAge name include
books and television programming.
About Hearst
Hearst Magazines (www.hearst.com/magazines), a unit of Hearst Corporation,
is one of the world's largest publishers of monthly magazines, with nearly
200 international editions around the world, including 19 U.S. titles and
20 magazines in the United Kingdom through its wholly owned subsidiary, The
National Magazine Company Limited. Hearst reaches more adults than any
other publisher of monthly magazines (74.1 million total adults, according
to MRI, Spring '07).
Launched in March 2006, Hearst Magazines Digital Media is dedicated to
creating and implementing the digital online and mobile strategy for
Hearst's magazine brands and other sites which serve the company's
consumers and audience.