Star Media Group to Acquire Leading Canadian Digital Beauty and Wellness Magazine

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - June 8, 2011) - Star Media Group, a division of Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, announced today it has signed a letter of intent to acquire The Kit, a Canadian-based digital magazine focused on beauty and wellness news. The acquisition is subject to negotiation of a definitive agreement and customary closing conditions.

"Readers and advertisers will benefit immediately from the planned union of one of Canada's most established media companies with one of the country's youngest and most dynamic media brands in the beauty category," said Edward Greenspon, Vice President of Business Development for Star Media Group and the Toronto Star.

"We searched diligently for the best women's lifestyle play for our audiences and advertisers," Greenspon added. "We liked what we saw in The Kit and are keen to get going right away in supporting it as a leading beauty authority on all platforms and extending it into the fashion space."

Giorgina Bigioni, President and Publisher of The Kit, said Star Media Group's "credibility, authority, resources and reach applied to The Kit will dramatically accelerate our plans and allow us to reach substantial new audiences."

The Kit has built a multimedia digital magazine, including the use of videos, slide shows and email newsletters, on the foundation of print expertise. It targets Canadian women, delivering all of the latest trends in a timely digital magazine format, offering advertisers an easy and innovative way to reach new target markets.

The Kit will continue to publish on a variety of digital platforms as well as adding a print edition. Bigioni will remain Publisher and will be joined by the team she has assembled at The Kit.

Star Media Group has proven abilities at serving both mass and niche markets through its flagship paper and website, the Toronto Star and thestar.com and its interests in the Metro free daily newspaper chain. "The Star Media Group-Kit combination is about creativity and quality – and the market know-how of getting informative products into the right hands at the right time," Greenspon said.

About Star Media Group

Star Media Group is broadly based with interests in print and digital media, led by its flagship property, the Toronto Star, Canada's largest newspaper, which is read in print and online (thestar.com) by 3 million readers every week. In addition, Star Media Group includes Toronto.com, wheels.ca, parentcentral.ca, yourhome.ca, Torstar Syndication Services, The Grid, Sway Magazine and The Canadian Immigrant. Star Media Group also includes the jointly owned Metro free daily newspapers in Toronto, Ottawa, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Halifax, Winnipeg and London, Ontario, and the Chinese language newspaper Sing Tao. Star Media Group is a division of Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, which is a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation.