British listings magazine Radio Times has been sold to a private equity firm after the BBC's commercial arm struck two deals worth £121m sterling today.
Exponent, which owns rail booking website thetrainline.com, has bought the 88-year-old TV listings guide and 10 other non-BBC branded titles, including Olive and Gardens Illustrated.
It will be the first time that Radio Times, which started in 1923, has left the BBC's control since the corporation took editorial charge of it two years later.
Today's deal will see BBC Worldwide retain ownership of other titles such as Top Gear, Good Food and Lonely Planet, which Exponent will publish under contract. Other BBC-branded titles, such as BBC Wildlife and Gardeners' World, will also be published under licence.
In a separate deal, BBC Worldwide also today announced it has agreed the sale of its 50% stake in Worldwide Media, a publishing joint-venture in India, to Bennett, Coleman & Co, which owns The Times of India. The two deals will raise a total of £121m.
They have been approved by the BBC Trust and are expected to complete in the autumn, if they are given approval by the Office of Fair Trading. Most of the proceeds from the sale will go back to the BBC, helping it invest in content at a time when its licence fee has been frozen.
'The majority' of BBC Magazines' staff and operations are also expected to transfer to the new company when the deal completes.
BBC Magazines was put up for sale in September as part of BBC Worldwide's plans to focus more on digital media. It is understood that several parties, including Bauer, which owns Heat, Closer and FHM, walked away from the sales process after it emerged that the BBC wanted to retain ownership of some of its most popular titles.
It selected Exponent as a preferred bidder in May. Exponent also owns Radley handbags, media jobs website Gorkana and the Ambassador Theatre Group, which runs West End theatres, such as the Lyceum and Donmar Warehouse.
It recently paid £205m to acquire meat-free brand Quorn from Mr Kipling-maker Premier Foods.
The BBC, funded by a fee paid by all UK households with a television, is under pressure to cut costs as part of the government's bid to slash spending.
