Autoblog

It appears that today is the day for shedding divisions, as in addition to news that Daimler has sold a majority stake in Chrysler to the Cerberus Group, we've also learned that Primedia has finally unloaded its Enthusiast Media division to Source Interlink. The Enthusiast Media division of Primedia includes 70 magazines titles and 90 websites, including Motor Trend and Automobile Magazine, among others.

Source Interlink appears to work in the field of distribution, which should fit well with the Enthusiast Media division that produces dozens of magazine titles each month needing to find their way onto newsstands across the world. It appears that the purchase will make Source Interlink a vertically integrated producer and distributor of content from this point on. Though a copy of Motor Trend goes for about $4 on the newsstand, Source Interlink paid $1.2 billion for it and its siblings thanks to financing support from Citigroup Global Markets, Inc.

Like the sale of Chrysler to Cerberus, only time will tell if these sell offs benefit the seller, the sold and the buyer. You can read the full press release from Source Interlink detailing the sale after the jump.

[Source: Source Link via Winding Road]

PRIMEDIA Inc., the parent publishing company that's responsible for Motor Trend, along with other enthusiast mags like Automobile and Hot Rod, have announced that it's "exploring the sale" of its Enthusiast Media division. While the sale price will probably be more than the going rate for a subscription to MT, one has to wonder if the division isn't being sold because the value of print media is falling faster by the second. The Enthusiast Media division is comprised of 90 websites, however, including Automotive.com (and Equine.com, w00t!), along with over 70 dead tree editions and 65 events, so the next potential owner will have quite the media empire on its hands. Hmm... perhaps AOL, our own corporate media overlord, is looking for another asset to add to the warchest. Could you even imagine, Autoblog and Motor Trend under the same roof? The mind reels.

In a somewhat odd aside, the news of PRIMEDIA shedding its Enthusiast Media division comes shortly after it was announced the company was aquiring VerticalScope, Inc., publisher of such titles as Modified, Modified Luxury and Exotics and Modified Mustangs. Being purchased by PRIMEDIA is the holy grail for small, independant publishing houses like VerticalScope. I should know, I used to work for one that competed directly with Modified on the newsstands, but was passed over by the benevolent purchasing power of PRIMEDIA. Congrats to my old nemesis and its producers at VerticalScope, who are likely sipping Pina Coladas on a beach somewhere right about now.

[Source: The Auto Channel, Jalopnik]