NC2 is paying £51.5 for 100% of the travel guide specialist with £41.2m to be paid on completion of the deal and the remaining £10.3m in a year’s time.
The deal represents a loss to BBC Worldwide which paid a total of £130.2m for Lonely Planet, when it acquired a 75% stake in 2007 for £88.1 followed by the remaining 25% in 2011 for £42.17m.
Reports say the BBC Trust, the governing body of BBC Worldwide, is calling for a review and has criticised the deal saying it was not “a good commercial investment” and lessons needed to be learned.
Read full story at: http://www.tnooz.com/2013/03/19/news/bbc-sells-lonely-planet-to-nc2-media-for-a-near-80-million-loss/