Media

BBC agrees sale of magazines

By | Published on Wednesday 17 August 2011

BBC

The BBC’s commercial wing has agreed to sell its magazine publishing business to Exponent Private Equity for £121 million. As previously reported, BBC Worldwide confirmed that Exponent, which owns the media and PR information service Gorkana, was favourite to buy BBC Magazines back in May. However, the deal still requires Office Of Fair Trading approval before it can finally go through.

The Beeb put its magazine business up for sale last amid calls from government and other media owners that the Corporation’s commercial division should focus more on broadcasting ventures. There was a lot of interest in some of the company’s key titles, but Worldwide said it wanted to sell the whole business to one buyer. Talks with both Haymarket and Bauer faltered.

John Smith, the chief executive of BBC Worldwide told reporters yesterday: “The deal announced today offers the best prospects for the magazines business to continue on this path of success, while BBC Worldwide pursues a strategy increasingly focused on international video and digital services”.

Among the titles to sold are Top Of The Pops and The Radio Times, the latter of which has been published by the BBC since 1923.



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