Reader's Digest acquires Reiman Publications

The Reader's Digest Association Inc., Pleasantville, has agreed to purchase substantially all the assets of Reiman Publications L.L.C., a Greendale, Wis.-based publisher of cooking, gardening, country lifestyle and nostalgia magazines and books in the United

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Reiman is principally owned by Madison Dearborn Partners Inc., a Chicago investment firm, and senior management of Reiman. Its bestknown publication is Taste of Home, the nation's top-selling food magazine.

The purchase price is about $760 million in cash.

Thomas O. Ryder, chairman and chief executive officer of Reader's Digest, said the acquisition will help Reader's Digest distribute its products to new customers through new marketing channels, provide an alternate platform for new-product development, and "advance our effort to further reduce our dependence on sweepstakes promotions."

The two companies publish 20 magazines between them and collectively have U.S. databases with more than 80 million customers for magazines, books and other products. The duplication factor is low, Reader's Digest said, with 59 percent of Reiman's database, or 19 million customers, who are not Reader's Digest customers.