24.02.04
ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½
Magazines acquires Origin Publishing
ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Magazines has acquired Origin Publishing – the Bristol-based
publisher of 12 quality specialist consumer magazines such as Focus
and Living History plus a range of award-winning contract titles
including WaterstoneÂ’s Books Quarterly and HMV Choice.
The
purchase of Origin, which employs around 110 staff, is part of ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½
MagazinesÂ’ strategy to grow through new launches and acquisitions
that saw the company launch five new consumer magazines last autumn
and acquire Parentwise magazine which was subsequently relaunched
as ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Parenting Magazine.
Origin
will provide ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Magazines with a specialist publishing arm and
provide an opportunity to move the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½Â’s existing specialist
titles - ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ History Magazine, ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Wildlife and ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Music Magazine
– to Origin’s headquarters in Bristol where they would
benefit from OriginÂ’s long experience in producing such magazines
profitably and its knowledge of specialist markets and specialist
distribution channels.
Says
ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Magazines Managing Director Peter Phippen: "Origin is a
very successful publisher of quality specialist magazines. This
is an important and exciting development and gives us a powerful
base from which to publish the three titles that we propose to move
there, and indeed from which to plan future launches in specialist
markets."
Origin
will continue to be run by Chief Executive Kevin Cox, who founded
the company in 1997, and will be managed as a wholly owned subsidiary.
Says
Kevin Cox: "I am thrilled that Origin is to be owned by ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½
Magazines and benefit from its position as a high-calibre publisher
of some of the UKÂ’s best known and most respected magazines,
while continuing to be run at arms-length in a way that will benefit
our existing range of titles as well as the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½Â’s own specialist
portfolio."
Notes
to Editors:
ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Magazines is a division of ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Worldwide Ltd, the commercial
consumer arm of the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½. Its portfolio of nearly 40 regular titles
for adults, teenagers and children includes Radio Times - BritainÂ’s
most profitable magazine. ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Worldwide does not use licence fee
income for its activities and re-invests in public service programming.
In 2002/2003 ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Worldwide returned £123 million to the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½.
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