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Reed Elsevier abandons sale of RBI

Reed Elsevier has abandoned the sale of its magazine publishing arm Reed Business Information (RBI).

The 'divestment' of RBI, which was announced in February, has been terminated because of 'the recent deterioration in macro-economic outlook and poor credit market conditions', a press release from the company said.

The group has said its plans to sell the division remain in place, but that it will wait until the medium term 'when conditions are more favourable'.

"With the termination of the sales process, this will now enable us all to focus on maximising the potential of RBI.  It’s a high quality business, it has global leadership in its sector, and it has an experienced and very capable management team," said Sir Crispin Davis, Reed Elsevier CEO, in an email sent to RBI staff seen by Journalism.co.uk

The division will be separately managed as a division within Elsevier under RBI CEO Keith Jones.

"Whilst the short term outlook for RBI is challenging given the recent deterioration in economic outlook, we believe the business has significantly more value to our shareholders than could be realised in a transaction at this time," said Davis in the release. 

"RBI accounts for less than 10 per cent of Reed Elsevier's operating profits and cash flows and our continuing ownership of RBI will in no way distract us from our strategic focus on delivering authoritative content through leading brands, driving online solutions, improving cost efficiency and continuing to reshape and strengthen our portfolio."

Short-listed bidders have been consulted, the statement said. Earlier this week Bain Capital was touted as the leading bidder for the publisher.

A spokesman for Reed Elsevier declined to comment when asked about the impact that the termination of the sale will have on RBI employees.

Timeline of RBI divestment plan

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