The company founded by Westports Martha Stewart, continuing to reshape itself while she prepares to serve a prison sentence, is moving into the ғnatural living market.
Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc. said today it was acquiring two new publications, Body & Soul magazine and Dr. Weil’s Self Healing newsletter for $6 million in cash.
Body & Soul was published by New Age Publishing, Inc., and the newsletter was published by Thorne Communications, Inc. Janesse Bruce, the CEO of both, will continue to run the Body & Soul brand for MSO, the company said.
Body & Soul, founded in 1974 as the New Age Journal, covers healthy eating, exercise, natural medicine and mental health, among other topics. The magazine, which changed its name in 2001, is published eight times a year and has a circulation of 200,000.
“Body & Soul provides MSO with the opportunity to both enter a new, promising market and to launch ‘natural living’ as a new ‘omni’ lifestyle category and brand for the company,” MSO President and CEO Sharon Patrick said in a statement.
The newsletter was started in 1995 and is based on the theories of Dr. Andrew Weil, who advocates combining natural medicine and Western medicine.
MSO has been trying to distance itself from founder Martha Stewart, who was convicted in March on charges she lied to investigators about a stock sale.
Her sentence, five months in prison and five months of house arrest, was stayed pending appeal. She was also fined $30,000.
Last week, the company announced the launch of “Everyday Food,” a television show based on the magazine /by the same name that will air on PBS stations. It also said it planned to eliminate its catalog business by the end of the year.
