The National Enquirer Finds A Buyer

The company that owns the National Enquirer said it has agreed to sell the scandal-plagued supermarket tabloid to a former newsstand mogul, reports The Wall Street Journal.

James Cohen, 60 years old, whose family built Hudson News, best known for operating airport and rail station newsstands, will acquire the gossip weekly and its sister tabloids, the Globe and National Examiner, from American Media LLC, the company said. Mr. Cohen has agreed to pay $100 million for the publications, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Mr. Cohen and American Media Chief Executive David Pecker have had numerous business dealings over the years and are friends, according to people familiar with the matter. Mr. Cohen continues to own a magazine distribution business that delivers American Media publications to newsstands. In 2011 the two men joined forces to acquire OK! Magazine’s U.S. edition from a British publisher.

Mr. Cohen’s Hudson Group was acquired by Swiss travel retailer Dufry AG in 2008. Mr. Cohen remains on the company’s board.

“Year after year, the Enquirer has continued to be one of the best-selling and most profitable newsstand titles,” Mr. Cohen said in a statement. “But this transaction is about more than a weekly publication, it’s about a brand with extraordinary potential across multiple platforms.”

American Media said it expected the deal to close soon, pending regulatory approval. The Washington Post earlier reported on the sale.

American Media announced last week that it was putting the Enquirer and its sister tabloids -- the Globe and National Examiner -- up for sale and expected a deal in the “near future.”

The heavily indebted company has been in the spotlight since it admitted making a hush-money payment on behalf of President Trump to women who alleged affairs with him.