AIM Sells SKI, WME to Pocket Outdoor Media

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01 July 2020

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SAM Magazine—Boulder, Colo., July 1, 2020—Active Interest Media (AIM) has sold SKI, Warren Miller Entertainment, Nastar, and SNEWS to Pocket Outdoor Media (POM). The winter sports-related properties are part of a much larger package of three divisions of AIM—fitness, outdoor, and healthy living—purchased by POM. Both AIM and POM are based in Boulder. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. SKIPOM

Included in the acquisition are: Yoga Journal, SKI, Climbing, BACKPACKER, Warren Miller Entertainment, Oxygen, IDEA Health and Fitness Association, Clean Eating, Vegetarian Times, Better Nutrition, NatuRx, Muscle & Performance, Nastar, Fly Fishing Film Tour, National Park Trips, and SNEWS.

The AIM brands will join POM’s existing stable of endurance sports brands: VeloNews, Women’s Running, Triathlete, PodiumRunner, Bicycle Retailer & Industry News, VeloPress, VeloSwap, and Roll Massif, a recently acquired event production company that produces a series of eight iconic Colorado cycling events.

The acquisition by the youthful POM, which was founded in 2017, coincides with the closing of its Series A investment from JAZZ Venture Partners, a global investment firm based in San Francisco, with participation from NEXT VENTŪRES and Zone 5 Ventures.

“The strength of these collective brands positions us to build the premier active lifestyle media destination,” said Robin Thurston, CEO of Pocket Outdoor Media. “Our mission is to inspire people to do the activities they love—yoga, ride, cook, ski, run, swim, hike, climb—with greater enjoyment and knowledge.”

“The synergies of these iconic brands, some of which have been around for over 50 years, uniquely enables Pocket Outdoor Media to deliver an integrated experience never seen before,” said John Spinale, managing partner at JAZZ Venture Partners. “They [POM] have already developed a personalized newsfeed and membership experience that allows readers to access content across the POM brands, and it will only be bolstered as they add the AIM businesses to the experience.”

“After getting to know Robin and the Pocket Outdoor Media team, it was clear that we share a great commitment to the communities we serve,” said Andy Clurman, CEO of Active Interest Media. "Pocket’s new technology platform unifies, personalizes, and syndicates the best content around the customer journey. Combining their personalization platform with their membership strategy felt like a home run for the brands and team members of AIM’s outdoor, fitness, and active lifestyle divisions."