BBC sells Lonely Planet publishing house at a high loss
The BBC is selling the travel publisher Lonely Planet, incurring a significant loss in the process. The U.S. media group NC2 Media is paying the broadcaster’s commercial arm about 60 percent less than the British company had paid in total for its acquisitions in 2007 and 2011.
The purchase price amounts to 51.5 million pounds (equivalent to just under 73.5 million Swiss francs), as BBC Worldwide announced on Tuesday. The publisher no longer fits into the strategy, it said. BBC Worldwide rejected criticism of the loss-making deal. When Lonely Planet was bought, the economic situation was completely different.
BBC Worldwide had already encountered headwinds when it purchased the travel book series, which enjoys cult status among backpackers in particular. The division is normally responsible for marketing BBC productions profitably. The supervisory body BBC Trust has already commissioned an investigation.
The "Lonely Planet" travel book series was launched in the early 1970s by Australians Tony and Maureen Wheeler in their kitchen in Melbourne. They wrote about their own travel experiences. To date, around 120 million books have been printed in 11 languages. Some of the books have also been published in German. In recent years, the publishing house has focused primarily on expanding its digital business. (SDA)
