The rich are different, and so is what they’re reading. Which is why the quest for wealthy eyeballs is booming despite a soft print market, the Los Angeles Times reports.

That trend will be underscored today with the expected announcement that investor Roy E. Disney’s Shamrock Capital Advisors has sold Los Angeles-based Modern Luxury Media for nearly $250 million.

Local private equity player Clarity Partners is buying a controlling interest, winning an auction involving about 30 parties.

Modern Luxury publishes such upscale city magazines as San Francisco, Angeleno and Riviera, which has Orange County and San Diego editions. The acquisition of the company comes as other print publications are struggling to attract advertisers and keep up circulation.

“Luxury magazines have been spreading like wildfire,” said Peter Kreisky, president of Kreisky Media Consultancy.

The growth has been fueled by controlled circulation, in which companies send free magazines to people living in affluent ZIP Codes.

Luxury magazines appeal to advertisers and investors because they can reach a specific type of consumer in a way that general circulation publications can’t. According to Modern Luxury, the median household income of Angeleno readers is $305,000.

Read the full L.A. Times story

.(registration required)