Acquired Horwitz Staff Face D-Day Thursday
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Staff at the Sydney-based Horwitz Group will find out on Thursday if they get to keep their jobs after private equity firm Wolseley and ex-ACP Magazines deputy chief executive, David Gardiner, bought most of the company’s magazine titles last week, including Horwitz AV titles Geare, Sound and Image, ProPhoto, Camera, Australian HiFi, InCar Entertainment and Best Buys Home Theatre.The consortium bought the 90-year-old publishing company from former directors, Peter and Susan Horwitz, who inherited the stable from their father, Stanley Horwitz, who in turn inherited the business from his parents, Israel and Ruth Horwitz.


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According to Peter Horwitz, the company had been “courted” by potential buyers in the past but none fit with the publisher’s ideology as well as Wolseley.

The company’s other magazines include Mad, Inside Sport, Australian Golf and Penthouse, however the Horwitz’s will continue publishing the latter title for the time being.

The company was handed over for an undisclosed sum, and will now be known as Wolseley Media. New director Gardiner will grow the business primarily with acquisitions, he told The Australian.
 


According to sources, staff who make the cut will stay on in the company’s St Leonards headquarters, with new magazines to take command of the seven-level premises when acquired.

Horwitz staff currently occupy two of the building’s floors, with Horwitz AV, which publishes the company’s audio and visual titles, occupying a floor on its own.

The AV Group employs various long-serving staff including Camera and ProPhoto editor, Paul Burrows, Australian HiFi editor, Greg Borrowman, and group director and sales director, Jim Preece, each of whom have worked for the company close to 20 years.

The company has sold or closed down various of its titles over the past years leading up to the acquisition, including Gardens & Outdoor Living and Horwitz Education, which published education booklets for children.