The statewide magazine known for ranking the 10 best and worst Texas legislators, annual Bum Steer awards and devotion to barbecue spotting, is up for sale.

Texas Monthly was founded in 1973 and soon became a must-read, combining restaurant reviews with insightful political coverage and sweeping stories on the murder trials, college rivalries and scandals unfolding across Texas. Today, the magazine has a paid circulation of 300,000 and is read by one of seven Texas adults, according to the magazine's website.

It's not the first time the magazine, which paved the way for other regional niche publications, has been on the sales block. Seventeen years ago the founder of Texas Monthly sold the barbecue and political bible to a public company in Indiana, Emmis Communications Corp.

On Thursday, Emmis Communications told its employees and investors of its plans to take the company private. To pay down $256.4 million in debt, Emmis Communications will jettison most of its publishing division, including Texas Monthly.

Jeffrey Smulyan, chairman, chief executive officer and controlling shareholder of Emmis Communications, made a bid to buy the outstanding shares of the publicly traded company. Smulyan owns E Acquisition Corp. of Indiana, which is offering $4.10 per share in cash for Emmis Communications.

On Thursday, shares of Emmis Communications closed at $4 a share. Over the past year, the price has fluctuated between $1.72 and $5.76.

In a letter to employees, Smulyan said that while he believes in the power of radio and magazines to provide compelling content, Wall Street investors do not.

"Investors have fled the radio and magazine industries," he said. "Trading volume in our stock has dwindled, meaning investors who want to sell are limited in their ability to do so."

The company reported to shareholders earlier this year it was in danger of getting delisted from the Nasdaq Global Select Market, a move that could reduce the liquidity and market price of its stock.

Overall, the company reported a profit of nearly $2 million in 2016. That was up from a $99.3 million loss the previous year.

It is not clear how Texas Monthly contributed to the company's overall finances but the company noted in its financial statements that the magazine's strong net revenues in the first half of the fiscal year ending Feb. 29 were offset by weakness in the second half.

In his letter to employees, Smulyan also noted that taking the company private will eliminate the cost of reporting requirements and help it focus more on "long-term value creation."

As part of the deal, E Acquisition Corp. intends to reduce the debt of Emmis Communications by selling some of its noncore assets, including a gospel radio station in New York, a radio station in Indiana and its publishing division with the exception of Indianapolis Monthly magazine.

No word yet whether the company has found a buyer for Texas Monthly.

"We expect there to be great interest, but we have nothing to announce at this time," said Emmis Communications spokeswoman Kate Healey Snedeker.

Joe Cutbirth, visiting assistant professor in the communications department at the University of Houston, calls Texas Monthly a "Texas Treasure" for its role in showing off the richness of Texas. And for Texans, it tapped into the state's pride, paving the way for other niche regional publications with its top flight writers and compelling stories.

People still talk about them, including one, in the fall of 1976, that detailed the unspoken rules of getting into one of the "big six" sororities at the University of Texas at Austin.

"Talk about shaking the timbers of the state," recalled Cutbirth. It wasn't just devoured by UT students like himself, but the story that poked fun at the powerful sororities was read by women in River Oaks, Highland Park and Alamo Heights, he said, referring to the ritzy neighborhoods of Houston, Dallas and San Antonio.

Emmis Communications is focused on radio broadcasting and owns 19 FM and four AM radio stations in New York, Los Angeles, St. Louis, Austin, Indianapolis and Terre Haute, IN.

The transaction is subject to approval by Emmis' shareholders.