Culinary Media Group Acquires Food52
Culinary Media Group LLC, a subsidiary of Marquee Brands, announced it has acquired the assets of the culinary media brand Food52, Inc. The deal unites Food52 with America's Test Kitchen under the same parent company.
- The acquisition was the result of a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing by Food52 on December 29, 2025. The bankruptcy was triggered after a secured lender, Avidbank, swept the company's cash, leading to a liquidity crisis and immediate layoffs. - America's Test Kitchen initially served as the "stalking horse bidder" with a $6.5 million offer before acquiring the Food52 brand assets in a bankruptcy auction for $9.9 million plus the assumption of some liabilities. - The final sale price represents a steep drop from the company's peak valuation of approximately $300 million in 2021, which followed a significant investment from private equity firm The Chernin Group (TCG). - TCG had acquired a majority stake in Food52 for $83 million in 2019 and, in total, invested a reported $163 million into the business. - The company's assets were broken up and sold to three separate bidders at auction. While America's Test Kitchen acquired the Food52 media brand, home goods brand Schoolhouse was sold for $2.2 million and tabletop brand Dansk was sold for $250,000. - Co-founders Amanda Hesser and Merrill Stubbs, both former New York Times food editors who launched the site in 2009, had both departed the company prior to the bankruptcy. Hesser stepped down as CEO in 2023 and left the company entirely, apart from a board role, by mid-2025. - The period leading up to the bankruptcy was marked by leadership instability, including the abrupt departure of CEO Alex Bellos (formerly of West Elm) in late 2023 and the appointment of former Barstool Sports CEO Erika Ayers Badan in April 2024. - The new parent company, Marquee Brands, holds a large portfolio of well-known consumer brands, including Martha Stewart, Emeril Lagasse, and Sur La Table.
