Apple buys magazine app Texture that's partially owned by Rogers

U.S. tech giant Apple is buying the magazine aggregating service Texture from a consortium of publishers including Rogers, for an undisclosed sum.

The service, which launched under the name Next Issue in 2010, allows subscribers to read dozens of magazines on their tablet for one monthly price, typically $9.99 in most markets. Rogers joined on a few years later in 2013, adding its stable of magazines to the service.

The company was later rebranded as Texture and it currently boasts of more than 200 titles from publishers Condé Nast, Hearst, Meredith and Rogers Media, who are all among the owners.

Financial details for Apple's purchase of the entire company were not disclosed, but investment firm KKR spent $50 million for its stake in the company in late 2014, just before it was rebranded as Texture.

Prior to that, the media partners had reportedly put in a total of $80 million combined over the years.

As a private company, Next Issue Media LLC has never revealed its subscriber numbers, but in 2016 CEO John Loughlin said it had in excess of 200,000 paying customers.

In a statement on Monday, Apple senior vice-president Eddy Cue said "we are committed to quality journalism from trusted sources and allowing magazines to keep producing beautifully designed and engaging stories for users."