Time Inc. to Buy Youth Subscription Fundraising Business From Reader’s Digest for $110M

RDA to ‘focus on core competencies’ of publishing brands.

By Dylan Stableford
08/07/2008

Time Inc. announced that it has agreed to acquire QSP Inc., a school and youth groups fundraising company that sells magazine subscriptions, from the Reader’s Digest Association for $110 million in cash.

For RDA, says president and CEO Mary Berner, the move is “consistent with our strategy to focus on our core competencies, which include growing our portfolio of publishing businesses and building multi-platform communities of customers based on our branded content."

Time Inc. views fundraising as “a growing area for subscriptions across the magazine publishing industry.” QSP is the largest school fundraising company in North America.

RDA and Time Inc. jointly ran QSP after it was founded in 1963. RDA bought Time Inc.’s share in 1971.