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Martha Stewart to go int’l
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December 9, 1999: 5:29 p.m. ET
Despite recent stock drop, queen of décor sees a good thing, will broaden markets
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - A top executive with Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc. Thursday promised to move the company’s products into international markets beginning next year and expressed few concerns about the firm’s jittery stock price.
Sharon Patrick, president and chief executive officer of the publishing and merchandising empire named after its founder, said the company planned to announce several international partnerships with multimedia companies next year that will push the Martha Stewart label into international markets.
Patrick, speaking at PaineWebber’s Media Conference in New York, did not disclose which markets she was currently considering, but mentioned Germany’s media conglomerate Bertelsmann AG, already a partner in some U.S. activities, as one possible candidate.
Patrick also said she was unconcerned with the company’s recent stock price drop off.
Martha Stewart’s (MSO) stock, a hot property when it first went public at $18 per share in October, has slumped of late, shaving more than 35 percent off its high for the year of 47-1/2 per share.
But, Patrick called the company’s current valuations "appropriate” for the company’s current growth model.
"It settled in right where we want it,” she said. "It priced at $18 per share and then shot up three times that. We think we’re extremely well-positioned right where we are now.”
Some critics have questioned the long-term viability of the company, particularly when it tries to market someone other than the popular Stewart, who is closely tied to the company’s products
Accordingly, Patrick said the company is making a greater effort to "put forward the experts behind Martha so we can grow exposure to our stable of specialists.”
Leland Westerfield, a broadcasting and publishing analyst with PaineWebber, said Martha Stewart’s integrated media approach -- designed to push out its content across all form of media, merchandising and e-commerce distribution channels -- will soon become the model for most media companies.
"She is an omni-media brand whose community has an interest and that interest is served no matter where you go,” Westerfield said.
Martha Stewart shares closed up 3/8 Thursday to 29-5/8. 
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Martha Stewart Living
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