Authentic Brands, a New York City-based brand management company, acquired Sports Illustrated, an American sports magazine, from Meredith, an American media conglomerate, for $110m. Through this acquisition, ABG forges a strategic partnership with diversified media powerhouse Meredith to build a global platform that converges the worlds of sports, culture and entertainment. ABG assumes the marketing, business development and licensing functions for the Sports Illustrated intellectual property and brand, while the print magazine and SI.com will maintain editorial independence and continue to operate under the leadership of Meredith and Editor-in-Chief Chris Stone and Publisher Danny Lee. “This strategic partnership brings a new approach to media brand development, and we’re excited to leverage Meredith and ABG’s respective strengths to enhance and build upon Sports Illustrated’s undeniable value,” said John Zieser, Chief Development Officer of Meredith. “We will also combine our world-class media platform and consumer audience with ABG’s brand development, marketing and licensing expertise to develop other media-driven opportunities across the company’s portfolio.”