BBC Worldwide seeks magazines stake sale

BBC Worldwide is forging ahead with plans to sell a stake in BBC Magazines, which publishes the Radio Times and Top Gear titles.

Yesterday, the BBC Trust gave the greenlight for the sale process to go ahead after several months of negotiation on the details.

Worldwide - the BBC's commercial arm - has now invited prospective partners to submit commercial proposals for the magazines business, which also handles Gardener's World, Good Food and publications from Lonely Planet.

At least 30 parties have already expressed their interest in BBC Magazines, which is the UK's four largest magazine publisher in terms of circulation.

The proposed shake-up at BBC Magazines first surfaced in the BBC's strategy review, which called on Worldwide to focus on its international operations and "move away from physical media".

The structure of any transaction has not yet been determined, but could involve a bidder buying a majority equity stake in the business of up to 85%.

In July, Worldwide sold 85% of its BBC Audiobooks division, which publishes bestsellers such as Under Milkwood and Winnie the Pooh, to AudioGo Ltd for more than £10m.

BBC Magazines, which is valued at around £180m, made a pre-tax profit of £18.4m in 2009/10 on turnover of £168.3m, up from £16.2m in 2008/9 on turnover of £170.6m.

Instead of bidding for the majority stake, commercial partners could instead acquire individual magazine titles outright or agree licensing deals with the BBC.

BBC Magazines said that it hopes to have found a commercial partner for the business by the end of March, but warned that the process may take longer.