• by Erik Sass  @eriksass1, May 15, 2007

In a deal worth $1.2 billion, billionaire Ron Burkle's Source Interlink will buy Primedia's Enthusiast Media unit--the publisher of Hot Rod and Motor Trend among others, Burkle's company announced Monday--defying predictions that it would go to Wasserstein & Co.

Source Interlink is owned by Burkle's Yucaipa Companies, which provides marketing services to grocery stores and other retail operations, including distribution specialty retail operations and designing and implementing front-end retail merchandising operations. It serves about 110,000 retail operations.

Burkle's acquisition of Primedia also nixes a rumor that he was considering buying American Media, Inc., which publishes The National Enquirer, Star and Weekly World News, as well as Globe, Flex, Men's Fitness and Shape. Burkle also bid on the Tribune Co. during its much-publicized auction, but lost to Sam Zell.

Ahead of the sale, Primedia's bigger titles have turned in a mixed performance in terms of ad pages. In the first three months of 2007, Automobile's ad pages were up 22.5% compared to the same period last year, according to the Publishers Information Bureau--although it's unclear whether they're being sold at a discount. Motor Trend's are down 5.6%, while Hot Rod is down 4.9%.

The sale follows several big moves in the enthusiast space, including the January sale of Time4Media and the Time Inc. Parenting group to Bonnier, a Swedish publisher, for a rumored $200 million to $300 million--a figure lower than Time Inc. had hoped. Titles in the sale include Field & Stream, Outdoor Life, Popular Science and Parenting. The Time4Media titles will be absorbed by Bonnier's U.S. partner, World Publications, which publishes special-interest magazines catering to affluent readers, like Saveur and Spa.