Emap to put £16m into women's mag

EMAP today unveiled its latest weapon in the battle for the overcrowded women's magazines market - Grazia, a weekly glossy aimed at the readers of monthly magazines such as Elle and Marie Claire.

The company will put £16m into the magazine over the next three years in a bid to repeat the phenomenal success of its other weekly magazines, Heat, Closer and ZooWeekly.

Grazia will be launched next spring under licence from its Italian publisher Mondadori.

Emap aims to sell 150,000 copies in 12 months and break even in three years.

Lads' mag Zoo Weekly has beaten all Emap's predictions as sales have soared beyond 200,000 since January.

Now Emap wants to move into the lucrative but ultra-competitive world of women's glossies where readers have higher incomes than those of Heat and Closer and a different class of advertiser can be attracted.

Emap Consumer Media chief Paul Keenan said that the new magazine would be 'innovative and bold'.

He added: 'It will grow the market and bring something new to readers and advertisers.'