Boots exits Handbag.com with sale of 50% stake to Barclay brothers

by Jennifer Whitehead, Brand Republic 30-Mar-05, 09:00

LONDON - Boots has sold its 50% stake in the women's website Handbag.com to joint venture partner and Telegraph Group owners the Barclay brothers.

Handbag.com was formed in 1999 as a joint venture between Boots and the Telegraph Group. The Barclays' company Press Holdings already owned 50% of the site after the acquisition of the Telegraph Group.

The deal, which was completed on March 17 but not revealed until today, will see Handbag.com come under the remit of publisher Andrew Neil, who also oversees The Spectator, The Business, The Scotsman, Scotsman.com and Apollo.

According to Neil: "As a leading online destination for women, the acquisition of Handbag.com adds to the diversity and quality of our publishing group of small to medium-size publications.

"The latest ABC figures reveal that Handbag.com is far and away the leader in its sector. With a host of blue-chip companies in its advertising client base, it is fast becoming a highly successful mainstream media business."

Nancy Cruickshank remains as managing director of Handbag.com, reporting to Neil.

"Handbag.com and its sister site getlippy.com are clear market leaders. By using Press Holdings' group expertise, we aim to develop the brands into new and exciting areas," Cruickshank said.

The acquisition comes as Handbag.com revealed a 13% rise in unique users to 986,695 for January 2005, according to ABC figures. It competes with sites such as iVillage.co.uk, which has 2.1m unique users, Femail.co.uk and iCircle.

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