PRIMEDIA Inc., (NYSE: PRM) is an American magazine company. It is publicly owned, trading on the New York Stock Exchange with private equity giant Kohlberg Kravis Roberts holding a controlling stake in the company.
Consumer Source Inc. is the sole operating division of PRIMEDIA and publishes and distributes more than 20 million guides and magazines – such as Apartment Guide and New Home Guide – to more than 50,000 U.S. locations each year through its proprietary distribution network, DistribuTech. The company also distributes category-specific content on its leading Web sites, including ApartmentGuide.com, RentRentar.com, NewHomeGuide.com, and Rentals.com, a comprehensive single unit real estate rental site.
The company made a series of acquisitions of niche publications under Bill Reilly's leadership in the 1990s. The firm went public in 1995, selling stock 15 million shares at approximately $12 per share, in a deal that left Kohlberg Kravis Roberts with control of 82.2% of the company's shares.[1] The firm adopted the Primedia name as of November 18, 1997 to more clearly focus on its core business.[2] Primedia sold a group of 17 outdoor-oriented magazines to InterMedia Outdoors for $170 million in cash, in a deal that included Guns and Ammo and Fly Fisherman.[3] Primedia sold its Enthusiast Media division to Source Interlink in a deal that netted Primedia $1.15 billion in cash in exchange for a group of more than 70 magazines, including Motor Trend and Soap Opera Digest and 90 consumer web sites. The deal left Primedia to focus on a series of free print and online consumer guides published by its Consumer Source unit.[4]
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Timeline
- 1989 - Founded as K-III Communications, a new venture financed by the investment group Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts and Co.
- 1989 - Purchased Intertec Publishing
- 1989 - Purchased Macmillan book clubs, renamed Newbridge Communications
- 1990 - Purchased business publications of Andrews Communications
- 1990 - Acquired Readers Garden, operator of special interest book clubs
- 1990 - Acquired Weekly Reader and Funk & Wagnalls from Marshall Field 5th
- 1991 - Purchased 9 magazines from News Corporation for $600 million.
- Daily Racing Form
- Soap Opera Digest
- Soap Opera Weekly
- New York
- Seventeen
- Premiere
- European Travel & Life
- Automobile
- New Woman
- 1992 - Acquired medical publisher Krames
- 1993 - Acquired three magazines from Wiesner
- 1993 - Acquired World Almanac from Scripps
- 1994 - Acquired Stagebill
- 1994 - Acquired Katharine Gibbs
- 1994 - Acquired Haas Publishing, now Consumer Source Inc.
- 1995 - Went public
- 1996 - Acquired Pro Football Weekly
- 1997 - Acquired Intellichoice
- 1997 - Sold Krames to Times Mirror
- 1997 - New Woman sold to Rodale
- 1997 - Changed name to PRIMEDIA Inc.
- 1998 - Daily Racing Form sold to private investors
- 1998 - Stagebill sold to Fred B. Tarter
- 1998 - Newbridge Communications sold to Doubleday Direct
- 1998 - Acquired Sterling/MacFadden's teen magazines and teen publisher Laufer Publishing
- 1999 - Primedia's education unit (Weekly Reader, World Almanac) sold to Ripplewood Holdings
- 1999 - Acquired Multimedia Publishing
- 2000 - Acquired About.com
- 2001 - Purchased EMAP's US magazines (formerly Petersen Publishing)
- 2002 - Modern Bride sold to Condé Nast Publications
- 2002 - Chicago sold to Tribune Company
- 2002 - American Baby sold to Meredith Corporation
- 2003 - Seventeen sold to Hearst Corporation
- 2003 - New York sold to Bruce Wasserstein
- 2005 - About.com sold to The New York Times Company
- 2005 - Sold business information segment (ex-Intertec[5]) to private investors Wasserstein & Co. (later merged with Penton Media)
- 2006 - Sold Crafts Group to Sandler Capital Management and Outdoor Group to InterMedia Partners
- 2007 - Sold Enthusiast Media group (containing the vast majority of PRIMEDIA's magazines) to Source Interlink, controlled by Ronald Burkle, for $1.2 billion.[6]
- 2007 - Sold Channel One News to Alloy Media and Marketing
- 2008 - Sold South Florida Auto Guide and Wisconsin Auto Guide to TargetMedia Partners; closes Atlanta Auto Guide
- 2009 - Closes Today's Custom Home Magazine
Former Major PRIMEDIA Titles (magazines are now part of Source Interlink)
- 4 Wheel Drive & Sport Utility Magazine
- Automobile Magazine
- Car Craft
- Dirt Rider
- Four Wheeler
- Home Theater
- Hot Bike
- Hot Rod Magazine
- JP Magazine
- Lowrider Magazine
- Mini Truckin Magazine
- Modified Magazine
- Mopar Muscle Magazine
- Motorcyclist
- Motor Trend
- Mustang Monthly
- Peterson's 4-Wheel & Off Road
- Power & Motoryacht
- Sail Magazine
- SLAM Magazine
- Soap Opera Digest
- Soap Opera Weekly
- Sport Compact Car
- Stereophile
- Super Street
- Truckin Magazine
- Truck Trend
- Sport Truck
as well as Automotive.com, Intellichoice.com web sites
PRIMEDIA Equestrian Group
- Arabian Horse World
- Dressage Today
- EQUUS
- Horse & Rider
- Practical Horseman
- EquiSearch.com website
PRIMEDIA Action Sports Group
- Bike Magazine
- Canoe & Kayak Magazine
- Powder Magazine
- Skateboarder Magazine
- Slam Magazine
- Snowboarder Magazine
- Surfer
- Surfing Magazine
References
- ^ via Reuters. "K-III's Initial Stock Offering", The New York Times, October 7, 1995. Accessed October 23, 2008.
- ^ Staff. "K-III's New Name To Be 'Primedia'", The New York Times, November 1, 1997. Accessed October 23, 2008.
- ^ Sorkin, Andrew Ross. "InterMedia to Buy Primedia’s Outdoor Magazines", The New York Times, December 7, 2006. Accessed October 23, 2008.
- ^ via Reuters. "Magazine Publisher Is Selling Special-Interest Unit for $1.15 Billion", The New York Times, May 15, 2007. Accessed October 23, 2008.
- ^ "Primedia Business Information Profile". Media Owners. http://www.mediaowners.com/company/primediabusiness.html. Retrieved 2007-02-16.
- ^ "Burkle's Source Agrees to Buy PRIMEDIA Magazine Group". http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=arWEU5f1k5Ow&refer=home.
External links
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