RentPath Inc. is a media company that owns Rent.com, ApartmentGuide.com, Lovely, and Rentals.com, which combined see 16 million visitors each month. It was previously called K-III and PriMedia. The company was acquired by Redfin in April 2021.
K-III/Primedia built a collection of more than 200 magazines that included Chicago and New York, as well as Automobile, Truckin' Magazine, Soap Opera Digest, Soap Opera Weekly, Seventeen, and Weekly Reader.
History
Foundation as K-III
The company, initially called K-III Communications Corporation, was founded in 1989 by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and Macmillan Inc. president Bill Reilly, as a platform to buy media properties. Its first acquisitions were Macmillan's Book Clubs, Gryphon Editions (renamed Newbridge Communications), and Intertec Publishing; and Maxwell Communications Corporation's Webb Publishing.
In 1990, K-III acquired Ward's from Thomson Corporation It also acquired the business publications of Andrews Communications; Readers Garden, operator of special interest book clubs; and Weekly Reader and Funk & Wagnalls from Marshall Field V.
In 1991, it acquired nine magazines from News Corporation for $600 million: Daily Racing Form, Soap Opera Digest, Soap Opera Weekly, New York, Seventeen, Premiere, European Travel & Life, Automobile, and New Woman.
In 1992, it acquired medical publisher Krames from Grolier, and Films for the Humanities & Sciences.
In 1993, it acquired three magazines from Wiesner, and The World Almanac from E. W. Scripps Company.
In 1994, K-III acquired Stagebill; Gibbs College; Haas Publishing (now Consumer Source Inc.), publisher of Apartment Guide; and PJS Publications.
Going public
In 1995, the company became a public company via an initial public offering, selling 15 million shares at $12 per share in a deal that left Kohlberg Kravis Roberts with control of 82.2% of the company's shares. It also acquired the US trade magazine operations of Maclean-Hunter, Chicago from Landmark Media Enterprises, and McMullen & Yee Publishing, a publisher of automotive magazine.
In 1996, the company acquired 14 publications from Cahners Consumer Magazines, Pro Football Weekly, and Westcott Communications, later renamed Primedia Workplace Learning.
In 1997, the company acquired Farm Press, Park Avenue Publishing, publisher of Lowrider, and Intellichoice. It also sold Krames to the Times Mirror Company, sold New Woman to Rodale, Inc., and sold Gibbs College to Career Education Corporation.
Rebranding as Primedia; shift away from print
As of November 18, 1997, the company changed its name to Primedia to more clearly focus on its core business.
In 1998, the company acquired the Cowles Enthusiast Media and Cowles Business Media divisions of Cowles Media Company from McClatchy Newspapers. It sold Daily Racing Form to private investors, sold Stagebill to Fred B. Tarter, sold Newbridge Communications to Doubleday Direct, and acquired Sterling/MacFadden's teen magazines and teen publisher Laufer Publishing.
In 1999, as the company's stock remained moribund, it sold its education unit (Weekly Reader, The World Almanac) to Ripplewood Holdings, acquired Multimedia Publishing, and sold Better Nutrition, Southwest Art, and Vegetarian Times to Sabot Publishing.
In 2000, the company acquired the digital media company About.com for $690 million.
In January 2001, as part of a joint venture, Primedia handed over editorial control of its trade publications that reported on the media industry to Steven Brill. Later that year, the company acquired EMAP's U.S. magazines and closed Country Journal. In October 2001, Primedia dissolved its partnership with Brill.
In 2002, the company sold Modern Bride to Condé Nast Publications, sold Pro Football Weekly to Arkush family, sold Chicago to Tribune Company, and sold American Baby to Meredith Corporation.
In 2003, the company sold Volleyball, Teddy Bear and Friends and Doll Reader to Ashton International Media, sold Seventeen to Hearst Corporation for $182.4 million, sold New York to Bruce Wasserstein for $55 million, sold Tiger Beat and Bop to Laufer Media, sold Kitplanes to Belvoir Publications, and sold Simba Information to R.R. Bowker.
In 2004, the company sold Folio and Circulation Management to a joint venture with Red 7 Media.
In 2005, the company sold About.com to The New York Times Company for $410 million, sold Prism Business Media (ex-Intertec) to private investors Wasserstein & Co. (later merged with Penton Media), and sold Ward's to Prism Business Media.