Chicago-based publisher Johnson Publishing Company has sold iconic African-American monthly magazine Ebony, as well as its digital sister publication, Jet. Both publications have been bought by Austin-based private equity firm Clear View Group.
The news was first reported by the Chicago Tribune. Terms of the transaction weren’t disclosed.
The Tribune reported that the deal closed in May. Johnson, which has published Ebony since its inception in 1945, now owns only cosmetics brand Fashion Fair and book publishing line JPC Book Division. Financial struggles were cited as a reason for the sale.
Clear View will now establish a new publishing entity, Ebony Media Operations, which will operate out of the magazine's existing Chicago headquarters as well as its current New York editorial office. Johnson chief operating officer Cheryl McKissack will assume the role of Ebony Media Operations CEO. Kyra Kyles, VP and head of digital editorial, will now become Ebony’s editor-in-chief. Johnson chairman Linda Johnson Rice, daughter of founder John H. Johnson, will serve as chairman emeritus, according to the Tribune.
Media and marketing publication MediaPost reports that Clear View is an African-American-owned equity firm that invests in companies serving this market.
Ebony, which has been published continuously for 71 years, was the first African-American focused publication in the U.S. to achieve national circulation and remains the oldest consumer publication focused on this market. The monthly magazine in 2014 boasted a circulation of 1,261,000.
Digest-sized weekly magazine Jet, which was first published in 1951, saw its final hardcopy edition in 2014. It was not reported if that title, which has remained as a digital-only publication since, would return to print.
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