Times Mirror to Buy Area’s 24 Recyclers

Times Mirror Co. on Friday said it agreed to buy the Southern California editions of the Recycler Classifieds, an independent publisher of classified advertising, and become part of a team that would own and operate the remaining Recycler publications.

Times Mirror would not disclose the purchase price for the 24 Southern California editions of the Recycler, which is currently controlled by DLJ Merchant Banking Partners, an affiliate of the New York investment firm Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette Inc. DLJ has owned a majority stake in Recycler since 1993.

But Times Mirror, which publishes the Los Angeles Times, valued the entire Recycler organization at more than $200 million and said the editions it’s buying account for the majority of the Recycler’s total revenue.

Times Mirror also said it would join with DLJ, the Recycler’s management and others to own and operate a new company, Target Media Partners, that would operate the Recycler’s other 23 publications that appear elsewhere in California and seven other states, including Arizona and Nevada.

“The Recycler is the largest source for resale automotive advertisements in Southern California, and this acquisition complements the Los Angeles Times product line,” Mark H. Willes, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Times Mirror and publisher of The Times, said in a statement.

Mark Schiffmacher, Recycler’s chief executive, said “Target Media Partners will be able to continue our aggressive acquisition program, while Recycler Classifieds will continue to focus on serving the community classifieds needs of the Los Angeles area.”

The Southern California editions carry not only the Recycler Classifieds name but also AutoBuys, TruckBuys, EZ Action Ads, Auto Seller and others. Together, they have an average weekly circulation in excess of 400,000 paid and free copies, Times Mirror said. Many Recyclers are sold in supermarkets and other retail outlets.

The company said its purchase also would include Recycler’s online service (https://www.recycler.com) and an interest in Recycler Auto Services, an auto finance and insurance venture that would be co-owned with Target Media Partners.

The Recycler was started in 1973 by Gunter and Nancy Schaldach, who came to Southern California from Canada and originally called their publication E-Z Buy E-Z Sell. Launching the newspaper in their Hollywood garage, the couple soon changed the name to the Recycler to buy into the popularity of recycling in the 1970s.