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Washington (dpa) - Reader's Digest Association Inc, which publishes one of the world's oldest most widely circulated international magazines, is being sold to an investor group led by Ripplewood Holdings for 1.6 billion dollars, the publisher said in a statement Thursday.
The magazine publishes 18 million copies a month and reaches about 80 million readers in multiple languages, but has lost market share in advertising and revenue in the US, Bloomberg financial news service reported.
Reader's Digest investors are to receive 17 dollars a share, a 9.6 percent premium over Wednesday's closing price, the Pleasantville, New York-based company said.
The six-buyer group, which includes J Rothschild Group and Merrill Lynch Capital Corp, will take on 800 million dollars in debt.
Ripplewood Holdings already owns World Alamanac and Weekly Reader.
Copyright 2006 dpa Deutsche Presse-Agentur GmbH
