Sunset Magazine Is Sold to a California Private Equity Firm<br />“A lot of other magazines don’t have the emotional feel you get with Sunset,” said the buyer, Michael Reinstein, whose firm also owns a string of history<br />and military publications, including Wild West Magazine and Army Times, as well as a luxury salon business and other holdings.<br />Sales of Essence, Golf and Time Inc. UK are also being brokered, said Jill Davison, a spokeswoman for Time Inc.<br />Sunset’s editor, Irene Edwards, broke the news to the staff of about 30 on Thursday.<br />The sale was in play before this week’s surprise announcement of a publishing deal in which the Meredith Corporation, which owns titles like Better Homes<br />and Gardens and AllRecipes, said it would buy Time Inc. in a deal valued at nearly $3 billion.<br />Time bought Sunset in 1990 from William and Melvin Lane, members of the family<br />that had scooped up the little magazine as the Great Depression loomed and turned it into a standard-bearer for Western gardeners and those pursuing the art of California living, complete with patio parties, car camping and the skillful use of an outdoor grill.
