Hearst wants Emap consumer mags, reports claim

US publishing giant Hearst is bidding for Emap's consumer magazine division, according to reports.
Hearst, which owns UK magazines such as Esquire, Good Housekeeping and Cosmopolitan through its subsidiary National Magazines Company, is said to have entered a bid around the £700m mark.

Emap's consumer division is home to titles such as Heat, Closer, FHM and Grazia.

It is one of three parts of the business that Emap has put up for potential sale, along with its business-to-business publishing and radio divisions.

Analysts value the business-to-business side at £1.25bn, while the radio assets - which include Kiss and Magic - could fetch £400m.

Guardian Media Group, the owner of the Guardian, Observer and the Guardian Unlimited website, has been mentioned as a potential bidder for the business-to-business operations, as has private equity group Apax.

Interest in the radio business includes an approach led by Phil Riley, the former head of Chrysalis Radio.

The process has been clouded by last week's announcement from newspaper group Trinity Mirror that it was pulling the plug on the sale of many of its regional titles.

Private equity's interest in buying media assets has been dampened by recent turmoil in the credit markets, which has been a key source of debt financing for such deals.

The potential sale of Virgin Media has also been delayed by the recent problems in the financial markets

Chris Tryhorn
Monday October 8, 2007
MediaGuardian.co.uk