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Online Journalism News

RBI put up for sale, but 'an exciting new era' ahead says boss

Posted: 21/02/08 By: Laura Oliver
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Reed Business Information homepage screenshot

The boss of Reed Business Information (RBI) has told staff that the sale of the company will herald 'an exciting new era'.

RBI, whose UK division publishes 95 websites including ComputerWeekly, Estates Gazette and New Scientist, announced today that the company would be sold off as it's 'too focused on revenue from advertising.'

The sale of the publisher is part of a move towards a more subscription-based revenue model and a more online focus, said Reed as it posted its preliminary results for 2007.

It's yet unclear if the business will be sold as a single entity or broken up and sold off either title-by-title or in blocks of related publications. No potential suiters have yet declared an interest.

"RBI is a well-managed high quality business as evidenced by the success of its online growth and the control of costs," said Sir Crispin Davis, CEO of Reed Elsevier.

"Its advertising revenue model and the inherent cyclicality fit less well however with the subscription-based information and workflow solutions focus of Reed Elsevier's strategy."

The company described Reed Business' future as 'positive' and said there had been continued online growth for its business magazines and information services, despite 'some general uncertainty in markets such as property and construction'.

The results showed a £119 million operating revenue for RBI in 2007, with online accounting for 30 per cent of RBI's total revenue and 46 per cent of RBI UK's revenue.

In an internal memo to staff, Keith Jones, chief executive of RBI UK, said this was 'an exciting new era' for the publisher.

"Reed Business' senior management team are very confident in our company, as are all the RBI UK Board - so it's very much a case of business as usual," he said.

"At some point, we will have new owners - it's far too soon to predict when this might be, or who our new owners will be - but I am sure there will be a lot of interest."

Terms and conditions of employment, including pension arrangements, he added, would not be affected by this announcement.