This is a finance issue that has little to do with whether the publications are making an operating profit or not... it's just a reflection of some bonehead fuccking up the proforma, overvaluing the mags, and paying too much for them largely with debt.
Sucks for the current owners, but if the mags are making an operating profit, they will continue to exist, whether they end up merged, spun off, or sold off in a bankruptcy liquidation.
Winner = Joe Weider
Loser = Pecker and his investors.
Collateral damage = Flex staff who likely have to deal with shrinking budgets and enormous pressure to meet AMI's unrealistic expectations.
Now, whether paper magazines have any future in the long run or not... that's a separate conversation.