Martha Sells Media Empire for Fraction of Former Value

New York Times: Martha Stewart’s media empire, built around her carefully curated lifestyle brand, once was worth well over $1 billion. Yet on Monday, the company agreed to sell itself for a fraction of that. Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia said that it would sell itself to the Sequential Brands Group, a conglomerate whose brands include Jessica Simpson and the Franklin Mint, for just under $200 million. MSLO has been battered by the troubles that have afflicted many media companies, as readers shifted to other titles and television shows.