K-III Moves to Pare Debt, Sell Some Assets

Magazine publisher and mass-media company K-III Communications Corp. said it will restructure, selling non-core businesses such as the Daily Racing Form and Pro-Football Weekly, and offer an additional 12.5 million shares of its common stock in a public sale. The New York-based owner of the Channel One educational TV channel and specialty consumer magazines could reap anywhere from $250 million to $350 million from the sale, analysts said. They said it could raise another $150 million through an offering of its stock, which fell 62.5 cents to close at $12 on the New York Stock Exchange. K-III will use the proceeds to reduce its roughly $2 billion in debt and outstanding preferred stock, measures analysts said would surely boost the company’s current BB- and BA3 credit ratings.