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]

Contents 1 Timeline 2 Former Major PRIMEDIA Titles (magazines are now part of Source Interlink) 2.1 PRIMEDIA Equestrian Group 2.2 PRIMEDIA Action Sports Group 3 References 4 External links

[edit] 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

[edit] 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

[edit] PRIMEDIA Equestrian Group

• Arabian Horse World
• Dressage Today
• EQUUS
• Horse & Rider
• Practical Horseman
• EquiSearch.com website

[edit] PRIMEDIA Action Sports Group

• Bike Magazine
• Canoe & Kayak Magazine
• Powder Magazine
• Skateboarder Magazine
• Slam Magazine
• Snowboarder Magazine
• Surfer
• Surfing Magazine

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• PRIMEDIA corporate web site