Source Interlink, a marketer of entertainment and media products controlled by the billionaire investor Ron Burkle, has bought Primedia’s Enthusiast Media unit for $1.2 billion in cash. The transaction, which is expected to close by mid-summer, combines Enthusiast Media’s magazine content portfolio, containing over 70 magazine titles and 90 websites, with Source Interlink’s magazine distribution and merchandising platform. Its Automotive Digital Network is Primedia’s lead digital offering.

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The sale was intended to help erase Primedia’s $1.3 billion debt. For 2006, Enthusiast reported revenues of $524.8 million. Source Interlink estimates that the combined companies generate approximately $2.4 billion in revenue. Enthusiast Media will operate as a division of Source Interlink, which Dealbook notes is controlled by erstwhile Tribune Company buyer Ron Burkle, and will be headed by Steve Parr, EM’s current president. Release

Bloomberg: Primedia, controlled by PE firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., will be left debt free, CEO Dean Nelson said. The sale caps a five-year drive by Primedia to sell assets to pay down debt and focus on its free auto and real estate guides. The company, which listed $1.31 billion in long-term debt on March 31, sold its Channel One educational TV business last month.