business

Tom Petters got into the magazine business Thursday by acquiring assets of the publisher of magazines such as MinnesotaBusiness and the in-flight magazine at Sun Country Airlines, which he controls.

Petters Group Worldwide on Thursday took over Bloomington-based Metropolitan Media Group for undisclosed terms.

Some of the publisher's 15 lifestyle magazines will be eliminated. "We are evaluating all publications as far as their profitability," Petters spokeswoman Andrea Miller said. She did not estimate how many magazines would survive.

Employees were notified of the ownership change Thursday afternoon.

About 50 to 60 people worked for Metropolitan Media. Miller said that several of them will be offered jobs with the new company. It is unclear whether Kenan Aksoz, chairman and CEO of Metropolitan Media, will have any role with the Petters enterprise.

The new company will be called Community Media Group.

Starting Monday, the group's staff will be housed at the Petters Group headquarters in Minnetonka.

Petters, CEO of Petters Group Worldwide, had been a minority investor in Metropolitan Media. He was traveling Thursday and was unavailable for an interview, but he said in a prepared statement that he was acquiring a "strong portfolio" of publications. He said that "Petters Group looks to support their continued growth and work closely with Aksoz's team on new ventures."

The statement said the staff would "continue the operations of MinnesotaBusiness and many of the 15 community publications."

The magazines were focused on particular communities, such as Eden Prairie Magazine and Edina Magazine. City South Magazine covers entertainment and lifestyle features in south Minneapolis.

"We have a lot of synergies with Metropolitan Media with our other businesses, and feel this is an opportunity to support some of our future and current business projects," Miller said.

For example, Metropolitan Media produced Sun Country's Escape magazine. Petters owns all of the voting stock in the airline.

Metropolitan Media executives were unavailable Thursday to comment about the company's financial condition at the time of the transaction.

Liz Fedor • 612-673-7709