Popular magazines Harper’s Bazaar, Men’s Health and Women’s Health could be brought back to life by the end of the year under new license holders after being axed by private equity firm Mercury Capital three months ago.

Image, Getty.

Mercury, which bought the former owner of the magazines Bauer Media (now known as ARE Media) in July, shut down eight titles including NW, OK! and Elle to avoid signing long-term licensing deals with international publishing houses to save money.

Harper’s Bazaar had five months left to run on its contract with Bauer, while Men’s Health and Women’s Health contracts were expiring later this year. All three titles are licensed from Hearst Magazines in the US.

Hearst has been talking to multiple parties about deals that would allow the magazines to continue to be published in Australia. Negotiations were still underway last week. Industry sources who spoke on the

Paragon Media is a special interest publisher that prints titles such as Australian Men’s Fitness and Ecogeneration. Paragon chief executive Ian Brooks confirmed the talks and said he was hopeful of finalising the deal.

Loading

“Men’s Health and Women’s Health are the strongest health and fitness brands in Australia and we have long recognised their unique value as a channel for advertisers,” he said. “These mastheads, in an expanded print and digital ecosystem, will continue to be important in this segment and we are hopeful that discussions can be concluded.”

Brag Media, the new publisher of Rolling Stone Australia, will also launch a new magazine in the next few weeks. It is unclear whether it will be a former title from ARE Media. ARE Media staff are currently de-commissioning Harper’s Bazaar while Hearst continues talks with prospective buyers.

Before closure, Harper’s Bazaar, which was printed for more