Some of Australia’s oldest and best-known magazine brands – The Australian Women’s Weekly, Better Homes and Gardens and Woman’s Day – are up for sale after their private equity owner confirmed it had enlisted investment bankers to find a buyer for publisher Are Media.

Are Media is owned by Mercury Capital, and has suffered from a broad decline in advertising directed toward traditional magazine brands, with stiff competition from social media platforms, streaming services and rival women’s media groups such as Mia Freedman’s Mamamia.