• by Erik Sass , December 13, 2007

After a brief respite, private equity is on the prowl again. The Publishing Group of America, publisher of newspaper mags American Profile and Relish, was bought by Bain Capital Ventures and Shamrock Capital Growth Fund. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Coming amid economic wobbles in the housing market and lending, the purchase confirms private equity's confidence in the long-term viability of traditional media--and their potential for digital expansion.

Paul Zurlo, a venture partner with Bain, enthused: "We're buying a jewel in the media business. The growth is available in magazines, digital and branded products, and we intend to push the throttle to take advantage of them all."

PGA is retaining its entire management team, including CEO Dick Porter, who oversaw the rollout of new products like Relish, a monthly title focusing on food, which launched with circulation of 6.8 million before upping to 9 million in 2007.

The new ownership isn't wasting time in rolling out even more new products. PGA also announced Wednesday the launch of a new monthly magazine, Spry, focusing on health, fitness and lifestyle with a multi-generational focus, including content relevant to aging boomers. PGA touts the new title--with an inaugural circulation of 9 million--as a venue for anything you might find in a supermarket or drug store.

Beginning with its flagship, American Profile, PGA has sought to enter the weekly and monthly newspaper magazine market by focusing on markets that were underserved by older titles, like Parade and USA Weekend, which dominate the so-called "A" and "B" counties (and forced out Time Inc.'s revived "Life" earlier this year). By aggregating smaller "C" and "D" counties, PGA offers advertisers comparable reach in untapped markets.

According to the most recent group publishers' report from TNS Media Intelligence, covering January-November 2007, American Profile's ad pages increased 8.3% and Relish's 54.3% compared to the same period in 2006. Meanwhile, Parade is up 5.2% and USA Weekend is down 3%.

PGA is the latest in a spate of private-equity acquisitions of media companies in 2006-2007. In one of the larger deals, Ripplewood Holdings led an investor group that purchased the Reader's Digest Association for $2.4 billion. Plus, a lengthy process to take Clear Channel Communications private is expected to close in the first quarter of 2008; the $19.5 billion deal will see the company owned in part by Bain Capital, one of the companies buying PGA.