Synapse Group Acquires Magazine Discount Center

It has just been disclosed that industry-leading Magazine Discount Center (magazinediscountcenter.com) has been acquired by Synapse Group, Inc., a subsidiary of Time, Inc.

The news was first disclosed at Magazine Insider a week ago, although the acquisition apparently happened in Q4 of last year. Synapse Group has now confirmed the industry scuttlebutt in a post on its corporate blog.

Earlier, Synapse Group acquired Bizrate Insights, which had been part of Connexity (formerly known as “Shopzilla”), in September of 2016.

In the blog post, Synapse Group states that it is celebrating its “Acquisition Aniversary” one year after obtaining Bizrate Insights and Magazine Discount Center. Bizrate Insights is well-known for its consumer ratings of products and companies, and had earlier partnered with Synapse Group by offering free magazine subscriptions after users of ecommerce websites would provide survey feedback about companies at the end of the purchase process on websites. Synapse Group had also previously worked with Magazine Discount Center in managing the website’s subscription sales.

We called Synapse Group’s CEO, Sebastien Bilodeau, and asked him for details about Magazine Discount Center. He stated:

“We were very pleased to acquire Magazine Discount Center last year. This was a natural fit for us, because we provide multi-channel services for matching consumers’ subscription needs with our state-of-the-art CRM subscription system.”

Bilodeau went on to say, “We handle subscriptions for over 30 million customers. MDC [Magazine Discount Center] is but one of many channels we operate in attracting motivated customers.”

Those closely involved unofficially say that the purchase price was for close to $650,000, and guaranteed continued employment contracts for a handful of key employees for a two year period.

Synapse Group’s long arc of growth has been a stand-out in the magazine publishing and distribution industry, as print magazines have seen an overall steady decline since about 2004, as the internet has disrupted traditional media businesses.