National Enquirer sold to a magazine distribution mogul

The owner of the National Enquirer has agreed to sell the beleaguered US tabloid to James Cohen, owner and CEO of Hudson Media magazine distributor.

The deal comes after American Media Inc., the publisher behind a portfolio of gossip magazines, had announced earlier this month that it was planning to sell the National Enquirer as part of the deal. 39, a "strategic review".

The National Enquirer has been involved in the controversy over the past year after being accused of paying money to a former Playboy model to help Donald Trump win the 2016 presidential race. Jeff Bezos, the Billionaire founder of Amazon, also accused the National Enquirer of making him sing on personal photos.

The level of drama surrounding the tabloid did not determine who would buy it, especially given its ties to the US president, David Pecker, chief executive of AMI, is a longtime friend of Mr. Trump . Under his leadership, National Enquirer published positive articles about Mr. Trump during his campaign for the presidency and critical articles about his political rivals.

Mr. Cohen, who has worked in the media industry for decades, described the Enquirer as "one of the best-selling and most profitable newspaper kiosk titles".

Mr. Cohen also agreed to purchase two more AMI-owned tabloids: National Examiner and Globe. Together, the publications generated profits of nearly $ 30 million last year, according to AMI. But the sales of the Enquirer have slipped. According to the Alliance for Audited Media, the draw of National Enquirer fell to less than 500,000 copies, against 6 million in the 1970s.

Mr Pecker stated that "the sale of these brands shows their vitality in today's newsstand market".

The price of the transaction was not clear. AMI said the deal would reduce debt to $ 355 million from $ 460 million in January. AMI, which also owns securities such as US Weekly and In Touch, was repeatedly bailed out by creditors after filing for bankruptcy protection in 2010, and is now majority-owned by Chatham Asset Management, a hedge fund.

The MAI reached an agreement with the US Department of Justice last year to avoid prosecution for its alleged "pay-as-you-go" payment to Karen McDougal, the former model, to prevent her from wearing charges against Mr. Trump during his presidential campaign.