Claeys Bahrenburg is the first casualty of British publishing giant Emap’s $1.5 billion takeover of Petersen Cos.
Bahrenburg resigned as vice chairman of the publisher of such titles as Motor Trend and Sport.
Petersen said last night that Bahrenburg left to “pursue other principal media investments.”
Bahrenburg – who walks away with at least $5.8 million in stock – couldn’t be reached for comment.
A report in Ad Age Daily Fax, which first reported the news, said Bahrenburg is joining Willis, Stein & Partners, the company that had initially backed Petersen Chairman and CEO James Dunning and Bahrenburg in the 1996 takeover of Petersen.
Daniel Blumenthal, a managing director at Willis Stein, told The Post yesterday, “I had not heard that Bahrenburg is leaving Petersen. He is not joining the firm, but if he is leaving Petersen, we’d welcome the opportunity to look for deals with him.”
Bahrenburg emerged as one of several dozen top-level managers who became multi-millionaires as a result of the Emap takeover of the special-interest publisher that prints titles including Guns & Ammo and Teen.
But his role had diminished since the company completed its initial public offering back in the fall of 1997. Most recently, he was overseeing the redesign of Sport.
When Petersen went on the block initially in early 1996, Bahrenburg, a former president of Hearst Magazines, was trying to get together his own investment group to mount a takeover.
James Dunning convinced Bahrenburg to instead hook up with him and Willis, Stein & Partners.
The two had worked together in the 1970s at Rolling Stone before Dunning left to become a media entreprenuer and Bahrenburg left to become a publisher in the Hearst magazine empire.
Dunning’s overture at the height of the Petersen takeover frenzy in mid-1996 turned a potential rival into a partner and together they were able to outbid Primedia for the Petersen Cos, paying more than $450 million.
Right after the deal, Bahrenburg was front-and-center in raising the company’s profile on Madison Avenue and recruiting top people to the firm.
But over the course of the next year, Bahrenburg’s role seemed to fade, particularly after the company completed its initial public offering in 1997.
Dunning’s role as the financial mover and shaker behind the deal came into sharper focus, and he assumed the title of chairman and CEO of the holding company and the operating company. Bahrenburg, after the IPO, was left with the somewhat ill-defined role as vice chairman.