Pacific Magazines parent company Seven West Media is reportedly open to an offer from its rival after it was revealed Bauer Media made a takeover bid.

The Australian reveals Seven has asked other parties to sign a non-disclosure agreement in relation to the potential merger after The Australian broke the story late last month.

The deal comes as a several of Pac Mags and Bauer print magazine titles have experienced plummeting circulation figures in recent months.

Just weeks ago, Pac Mags offloaded its youth portfolio to nextmedia, including its Total Girl and K-Zone print titles and online presence.

Also, last week Bauer itself revealed it would dump the print edition of its teen bible Dolly after 46 years on Australian magazine stands.

Both companies currently use PMP and IPMG for much of their print work, therefore a merger would likely see the rationalisation of print costs across the publishing giants.  

Bauer and Pac Mags are the first and second largest magazine publishers in the country, if a merger did go through the combined entity would control 80 per cent of the magazine market.

It would also pose a significant threat for smaller magazine publishers as the merged company would possess a bundle of advertisers and dominate print audience share.

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