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Reader's
Digest sold for $1.6bn
New York: Reader's Digest Association, which publishes
a pocket-sized magazine read by 80 million people around
the world, is being acquired by an investor group led
by Ripplewood Holdings for $1.6bn.
Reader's
Digest investors will receive $17 a share, 9.6 pc more
than Wednesday's closing price.
J
Rothschild Group and Merrill Lynch Capital are among the
group of six buyers that will also take on $800mn in debt
and will gain Reader's Digest magazine, that has been
sold for more than 80 years, as well as Every Day With
Rachael Ray and a book-fair business.
The
company's book fair division has contributed to Reader's
Digest incurring losses for more than two years. Ripplewood
will add to its ownership of World Almanac and Weekly
Reader.
The
Reader's Digest stock has risen 28 pc in the past three
months as the company's largest institutional investors
increased their stakes. Reader's Digest is the world's
largest magazine by circulation, selling 18 million copies
a month. The company has seen sustained drops in advertising
and news stand revenue at the US edition of the publication.
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BoJ
keeps rates unchanged
Tokyo: The Bank of Japan (BoJ) has left the overnight
lending rate between banks at the central bank unchanged
at 0.25 pc and said it is waiting for more evidence that
consumer spending will recover, sustaining economic growth.
Governor
Toshihiko Fukui and his policy board colleagues said the
decision was unanimous.
The
world's second-largest economy expanded at twice the expected
pace in the third quarter, led by corporate investment
and exports. Consumer spending, which accounts for more
than half of the economy, fell the most in almost two
years.
Gross
domestic product of Japan grew at a 2 pc annual rate in
the three months ended September 30, which is double the
rate expected by economists.
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Oct
consumer prices fall: US
Washington: Consumer prices in the US fell in October
for the second consecutive month, due to cheaper energy
prices.
The
consumer price index fell 0.5 pc in October, following
a 0.5 pc decrease in September, the labour department
said on Thursday in Washington.
Excluding
food and energy, so-called core consumer prices rose 0.1
pc after a 0.2 pc gain a month earlier.
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