The Publican
United Business Media has sold its licensed trade portfolio to William Reed in a deal worth up to £1.65m.

The portfolio – which comprises the Publican magazine, websites and awards events, together with the Theme and Bar Show brands – will be sold for an initial cash consideration of £1.5m and a deferred performance-related consideration of up to £150,000.

According to a release from UBM today, the sale will involve the transfer of 14 members of UBM staff to William Reed.

UBM bought the Publican – along with other licensed trade titles Flavour and Pub & Bar, and the related events business – from Quantum Business Media for £21 million in 2005.

UBM also announced today that it had sold its French medical newspaper and magazine business to a management buyout team led by Gérard Kouchner, the company's chief executive since 2005. The deal – worth €4.4 million (£3.7 milion) – will see UBM retain a 37.1 per cent share in the business.

UBM's financial results for 2010, published today, show £889.2 million in revenue for the period, a 4.9 per cent increase on the previous year. Adjusted operating profit didn't rise or fall however, according to the publisher, due to "higher investment in new product development, sales and IT".







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