According to a recent report in the Financial Times, McGraw-Hill, which publishes BusinessWeek, has appointed a boutique investment bank to sell the 80-year-old financial magazine after determining that its business is non-core. The publisher could reap as little as $1 for the sale of the magazine, which has suffered severely declining advertising revenues in recent years, the FT report states.
According to the FT, McGraw-Hill has appointed boutique investment bank Evercore to sell BusinessWeek, although the publisher would only say that it was “exploring strategic options” for the magazine and Evercore did not return calls.
The Publisher’s Information Bureau reveals that BusinessWeek’s advertising revenues fell by a third to $77.8 million in the first half of 2009. Its circulation is 936,000, according to the magazine’s own reports.
Finding a buyer for the troubled magazine will be difficult in a recession, the FT reports. Publisher Condé Nast closed Portfolio, a business glossy, in April, and bankers don’t think Time Inc., publisher of Fortune, or Forbes would bid on BusinessWeek.
Reed Phillips, managing partner of media investment bank DeSilva & Phillips told the FT that more likely buyers were OpenGate Capital, which bought TV Guide; Platinum Equity, owner of the San Diego Union Tribune; and Mansueto Ventures, a publisher.
OpenGate bought TV Guide for $1, which “is probably the kind of deal that would be obtainable for BusinessWeek,” Phillips told the FT.
Even with only minimum proceeds from the sale, McGraw-Hills stands to cut annualized losses of at least $10 to 20 million, according to Peter Appert, an analyst with Piper Jaffray.
Long a main source of news and developments in the MBA space, BusinessWeek’s fate appears to hang in the balance. Clear Admit will report on any further developments at the magazine as details become available.
Read the full article: Publisher McGraw-Hill Looks to Sell BusinessWeek
