BBC Worldwide sells off 34 magazine titles and all but exits the business

In a complicated deal that has taken many months to come to fruition, BBC Worldwide has sold off its portfolio of 34 magazine titles and is mostly exiting the magazine business. The deal with Exponent Private Equity LLP, is for £121m and involves taking over all the non-BBC-branded magazines (such as Radio Times) outright and publishing BBC-branded titles such as Top Gear under a contract

Giant swap, still subject to approval, sees Transcontinental take over former Quebecor World printing plants

Canada's largest printer, Transcontinental Inc. (which is also the country's largest publisher of consumer magazines) just got a whole lot bigger as it has conducted a huge swap with U.S.-based Quad/Graphics for the assets Q/G took over from the troubled former printing giant Worldcolor Press (formerly Quebecor World). Quad/Graphics retained only a Vancouver plant to service its U.S. Pacific

Hearst set to announce $900 million deal for Lagardere portfolio

Hearst Publishing is expected to announce as early as Monday that it is paying French publishing house Lagardere $900 million for its portfolio of international magazines, according to a story in the New York Post.Lagardere, whose US unit Hachette Filipacchi publishes such titles as Elle, Woman’s Day and Car and Driver, and Hearst, publisher of Cosmopolitan and Esquire, are expected to announce

Frank (Atlantic) may be up for sale; owner wants time to devote to new publication

The Halifax-based Frank magazine is apparently in play as owner John Williams confirms in a story in The Chronicle Herald that he is interested in freeing up time to work on one of his other publishing ventures. He has been owner of the magazine for six years. "The publication is fine, it is just me who is ready for a change," said Williams. Beyond that, he was tight-lipped.The "Atlantic Frank"

BBC may sell off some of its magazines, partner on others

BBC Worldwide is undertaking a shakeup of its multi-title magazine division and is considering selling Radio Times magazine. According to a story in the Times newspaper, BBC Worldwide is considering entering into a licensing arrangement or partnership with a rival publisher for many or all of its 50 titles, maintaining editorial control and the vaunted BBC standards while enabling the

Vice magazine hooks up with CNN

Vice magazine, which was born in 1994 as a Montreal zine and grew to become a multinational publishing and online phenomenon, has signed an agreement with the cable news network CNN to share content. According to a story in Marketing magazine, the first of what will be weekly updates was put up on the CNN.com/VBS website. Vice is now based in New York and had previously made partnerships with MTV