Martha Stewart houseware brand sold for about $175M

Martha Stewart's housewares product empire has dropped in value again.

Sequential Brands Group Inc. announced Tuesday it has signed a deal to sell the rights to its Martha Stewart and Emeril Lagasse brands to Marquee Brands LLC for an estimated $175 million, plus as much as $40 million in additional profits, depending on the performance of the brands.

In 2015, Sequential bought Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia for $353 million. Stewart's company, founded in 1997, was worth an estimated $2 billion at its height.

“I am thrilled to enter into this partnership with Marquee Brands, an organization that shares the entrepreneurial spirit and creativity on which I founded my business,” Stewart, 77, said in a statement. 

The Martha Stewart-branded publications, including Martha Stewart Living and Martha Stewart Weddings magazines, are not owned by Sequential and were not part of the deal. They are owned by Des Moines-based publisher Meredith.