• by Erik Sass , July 6, 2007

American Lawyer Media has been bought for $630 million from Wasserstein & Co. by Incisive Media, a British firm, in a deal that's expected to close by the third quarter of 2007.

Among the 33 ALM titles covering the legal and real estate business is The American Lawyer, its best-known publication. Wasserstein and Incisive are both run by private-equity investors; Wasserstein by founder Bruce Wasserstein, Incisive by Apax Partners Worldwide, which purchased the company in winter 2006.

The deal marks a major repositioning for Wasserstein, who formed the ALM group in 1997 but has since developed a taste for business information and consumer magazines with more mass-market appeal. As such, Wasserstein purchased New York magazine and Primedia's business information segment in 2005. Earlier this year, he was rumored to be interested in Primedia's Enthusiast Media division. This was eventually sold to Ron Burkle's Source Interlink Cos.

More generally, the ALM transaction shows that private equity's appetite for magazines has yet to be sated. Over the last year, private-equity firms have purchased the Reader's Digest Association, Prism Business Media and Penton Media (both with Wasserstein), and three of Dennis Publishing's largest titles.

The magazine buys have been matched by deals in other mediums. In television Clear Channel Communications has been sold to Providence Equity, a private-equity consortium. In the newspapers arena, The Philadelphia Inquirer and Philadelphia Daily News were sold to city businessman Brian P. Tierney.

New Mag: Visibility to Launch

The cutting edge of digital communications - search-engine marketing -- is turning to the printed page with the launch of Visibility, a publication created by industry clearinghouse site topseos.com. Founder Bill Peden remarked: "Based on the queries we have got so far, we are anticipating advertising spaces to fill up soon. Internet marketing enthusiasts are keeping an eye on their mailers this July."

Business Journal of Hispanic ResearchDebuts

A new magazine for Hispanic business professionals, Business Journal of Hispanic Research kicked off June 27, with another issue due in December. After the winter issue, frequency is expected to increase to a quarterly schedule. The magazine features two main sections: academic scholarly topics with a quantitative, qualitative, or conceptual bent, plus the executive section, featuring case studies, organization research, executive insights, and best practices.

Active Interest Media Buys Collector's Guide

Active Interest Media has purchased The Collector's Guide, an annual guidebook for art collectors and enthusiasts about the cultural scene in New Mexico. The acquisition complements AIM's Southwest Art magazine. The Collector's Guide,, which distributes 180,000 copies annually, has an estimated readership of 450,000. This spring marked its 21st year of publication.