The Bookseller.com

2nd December 2008

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BBC pays '£100m' for Lonely Planet

02.10.07

BBC Worldwide has paid between £70m and £100m for travel guide publisher Lonely Planet, according to media reports. However, the deal has already run into trouble with one MP speaking out against the takeover of the privately-owned business by the BBC's commercial wing.

According to the FT, the commercial arm of the British broadcaster on Monday announced that it had bought a controlling stake for an undisclosed price, thought to be in the region of £100m ($204.3m). The Telegraph puts the deal at £70m, while the Times reports that the deal had netted the founders about £40m, after reducing their 70% shareholding to 25%. Sleeping partner John Singleton is also selling his 30% stake in the business.

Lonely Planet sells about seven million books a year, worth about A$120 million (£50 million).

The Times reports that the deal also courted controversy, with one influential MP asking whether the BBC should own a company with little connection to the broadcaster. John Whittingdale, the Conservative chairman of the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee, asked: "Why should the BBC effectively nationalise a publisher? Where do its commercial activities stop?"

The Times

Lonely Planet BBC Worldwide