Newport Beach-based Orange Coast Magazine is being bought by Emmis Communications Corp., the Indianapolis-based owner of Los Angeles Magazine as well as other publications and radio stations.
Terms weren’t disclosed.
Publisher Ruth Ko is expected to stay on for a transition period.
“I’m excited to see all of the wonderful things this big media company can do,” she said.
Ko said she’s pleased with the sale and had been looking for a buyer.
“I’m really ready for this,” she said. “It’s harder to sell a company than to buy one.”
The sale marks the end of Ko’s long ownership. She started working at the magazine some 30 years ago and bought out prior owner J. Wayne Stewart in 1991.
Ko financed the buy by borrowing against her home, taking cash advances against her credit cards and later getting a loan against the company’s receivables.
She spent the next decade building Orange Coast into a local fixture. The monthly publication, which has circulation of 60,000, is known for its glossy covers of movie stars, such as Elizabeth Taylor, Pierce Brosnan and Jay Leno.
Ko was honored for her work at the Business Journal 2005 Women in Business luncheon.
Emmis owns other city magazines in Atlanta and Cincinnati. It also owns several radio stations, including Power 106 in Los Angeles.
The company has a market value of about $325 million.
