Rodale, which put itself up for sale in June, has reached a deal to be acquired by Hearst. They expect the deal to close early next year, following government approval. The WSJ reports that the purchase price is less than $225 million, or approximately one times Rodale’s annual revenue. (Those sales fell considerably over the past decade, and were over $600 million in 2008.) Multiple major book publishers were quick to reaffirm to the WSJ, as you would expect, that they would be interested in bidding for the Rodale Books unit if Hearst does not wish to retain it.
