Emap touts titles to rival publishers

by Ellen Bennett, Media Week 26-Jun-07, 09:40

LONDON - Emap has touted its men's lifestyle title Arena around a number of potential buyers including Development Hell, Factory Media and Dennis Publishing.

The struggling publisher, which is on the hunt for a new chief executive following swingeing job cuts, is also believed to have approached companies about New Woman and Top Santé.
Media Week understands that some potential buyers have been looking at Arena's books and that a number are still in the running.

Development Hell, the publisher of Mixmag and The Word, said the title would be a good fit within its portfolio, but declined to confirm that it was in sale talks. Larger publishers such as The National Magazine Company are thought to have declined approaches by Emap.

Having been hit by the increasingly tough men's magazine market conditions, Arena has been struggling to achieve viable circulation scale, although its fashion spin-off, Arena Homme+, has fared better. Industry observers suggest the title could be more suited to a smaller company that could cut production costs. An Emap spokesman said: "We are always reviewing the portfolio as part of our strategy to position the business for growth, but talk of selling off these titles is speculation."
Earlier this month, Emap announced the appointment of David Hipkiss as its commercial director. Hipkiss, who is on a six- month secondment from his permanent role as trading director at Emap advertising, has been asked to cut millions of pounds off the publisher's bills in areas such as travel, marketing, recruitment and IT (19 June, page 3).
The company also cut 175 jobs in its consumer publishing arm this year as a result of an ongoing review.