Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Martha and Emeril Make A Sweet Deal


Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc. announced yesterday that it had bought the rights to much of Emeril’s food empire: his books, television shows, kitchenware, food products and his Emeril.com website.

They paid $45 million in cash and $5 million in stock, but the price could rise if certain financial goals are met. They did not acquire the portion of his company, Emeril Homebase, which is the base of operations for his restaurants and charitable foundations.

Interestingly, the Food Network didn’t see much future in his brand, but Martha did. And her Omnimedia is doing very well these days. They announced a revenue increase of 22% in their 2007 fourth quarter results.

According to Emeril, “By affiliating with a larger company with means, infrastructure and reach, we know we can maximize (our) great potential.And here I thought the only place left for him to market himself was Mars…

Anyway, good for you, Emeril. Maybe you’ll give RR a run for her (lots of) money in striving for complete world domination.

3 comments:

The Short (dis)Order Cook said...

I'd buy Emeril's or Martha's stuff long before I would buys Ray's. Aren't Emeril's brand of pots and pans made my All Clad? I use All-Clad pots anyway. I have some Martha Stewart bakeware too. (hmmmm...maybe I should buy stock in the company...) At least none of it is in weird shapes or colors.

Emily said...

Hmm. Martha is taking over the world. Like Wal-Mart, Starbucks, and Cingular.

Sue said...

Hi Shortie,
I agree! I don't have any of Emeril's pots, but I have given them as gifts. And, yup, they are made by All-Clad.

Hi Em,
Well, I guess it's better than RR.