Hearst Magazines to Acquire RealAge, Inc.

Hearst Adds Leading Consumer Health Information Web Site to Its Portfolio


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.

Contact Information: Contacts: Jessica Kleiman Hearst Magazines 212-649-2545 Michael Volpatt Larkin Volpatt 415-692-0100


Mot-clé