Revered Essence returns to black ownership

The investment value of any print magazine is questionable these days. Richelieu Dennis thinks Essence — the 47-year-old magazine for black women — is an exception.

The Liberian native, chief executive officer of the hairand skin-care maker Sundial Brands, leads a group that bought the magazine and related assets from Time Inc., making Essence a blackowned company once again after almost two decades as part of the publishing giant.

As Sundial CEO, Dennis built a $240 million-a-year business catering to black women with products like SheaMoisture, Nubian Heritage and Madam C.J. Walker. The company, backed by Bain Capital, agreed to be bought by Unilever in November for undisclosed terms. Dennis, who will lead Essence with longtime President Michelle Ebanks, sees similarities between the businesses — like their loyal customers. “There’s something about

Essence that we more than like, that we really love,” Dennis, 48, said in an interview. “The history of the community, the forward-thinking leadership. This is about serving women of color deeply.”

Essence, which began publishing in 1970, has done a good job keeping subscribers over the past decade, especially as periodicals have lost readers and advertisers to online media. Monthly circulation of the fashion, beauty and culture publication tops 1 million, down just 2.6 percent from 2007, and the company reaches about 16 million people through digital, video and social media, including TV specials like Black Women in Hollywood Awards on OWN.

Ebony Magazine, owned by Clear View Group, is down about 9 percent over roughly that stretch, according to the Alliance for Audited Media.

The company also owns the annual Essence Festival, which attracts about a half million people to New Orleans each July for music and food. Tickets start at $159, and in 2015 Time’s CEO told the

Wall Street Journal it earned more money than the magazine made in a year.

Dennis, who started in business by carrying on his grandmother’s enterprise of making handmade shea butter soaps and co-founded Sundial in 1992 after graduating college, sees empowerment as a theme that can advance all of

Essence’s operations.

As part of that agenda, the magazine’s all-black, all-female management team will have an equity stake. Dennis is also backing an initiative to finance minority-group women entrepreneurs nationwide. He plans to support crowdfunding campaigns and grant program winners up to $50,000 to pursue their business goals.

He’ll have some hurdles to clear. With readership down, magazine industry ad sales have plummeted in recent years and are expected to drop another 16 percent in 2018, according to Magna Global. That’s led some publishers to sell unwanted titles and to even bigger deals, like Meredith Corp.’s deal to buy

Time for $1.8 billion in cash.