James Brown, the founder of lads' magazine Loaded, says he has fulfilled a lifetime's ambition by taking control of the cult comic Viz.
Mr Brown's I Feel Good company today bought John Brown Publishing, the owner of Viz, in a surprise £6.4m deal.
"I have been a lifelong fan of Viz and have known the guys who run it since I was a teenager. When I ran a fanzine in Leeds, I used to sell Viz as well," he said.
The former editor of GQ added that the Geordie comic had a "huge influence" on Loaded, which revolutionised the men's magazine market when it burst onto the scene in the mid-90s.
"Viz was a huge influence on Loaded. That magazine was Viz meets Arena. Viz is still my favourite magazine and it's still very funny, as anyone who buys it will find out," he said.
Mr Brown said there was no need to make editorial changes at the comic, but he intends to restore the title's circulation to its former heights of 1.1m copies sold every two months. Viz now sells just over 200,000 editions on average.
"What we can do is to set a publishing and editorial strategy going forward. Creatively it is not a huge job, and at IFG we are experts in creating exciting magazines for young guys. We have strong ideas about moving things forward without having to break anything up," he said.
But an IFG insider said that Mr Brown, who is chief executive of the group, has come under pressure to boost sales at the company. Its titles, which include film magazine Hotdog and the official Leeds United magazine, have failed to set the publishing world alight.
"IFG has got to show some return on the shareholders' investments. It is crucial for IFG to be seen to grow, either through launches or acquisition. It already has Hotdog, which isn't a bad magazine but it's not exactly on fire," said the insider.
The JBP deal certainly makes IFG a stronger force in the men's magazine market, taking its total monthly sales to 300,000.
IFG is part-owned by Felix Dennis, the multimillionaire publisher of Maxim and Auto Express who started his career with the notorious Oz magazine.
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