US businesswoman and television personality Martha Stewart has sold her media and merchandising business to a retail licensing group for about $353 million (€311 million), in a dramatic fall in the value of a lifestyle business worth nearly $2 billion at its 2005 peak.

Martha Stewart Living made its founder a billionaire in the dotcom boom but both her and her brand's fortunes have ebbed. Forbes estimated her net worth at about $220 million this year.

Sequential Brands is paying $6.15 a share, half in stock and half in cash, for Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, the group Ms Stewart built on the back of her talent for DIY, cooking and decorating.

Ms Stewart will become “a significant shareholder” of a new public holding company of Sequential and Martha Stewart Living and will serve on its board, the company said. – Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2015