BBC World to sell Lonely Planet to NC2 Media for $75 mn

BBC World, the commercial arm of the BBC, has agreed to sell its travel guide business Lonely Planet to US company NC2 Media for a paltry $75 million (£51.5 million).

The sale price is 60 per cent lower than the £130.2 million BBC paid to acquire the travel guide for backpackers in two phases in 2007 and 2011 from the founding couple Maureen and Tony Wheeler. (See: BBC finds Lonely Planet; acquires majority stake)

Paul Dempsey, interim chief executive of BBC Worldwide, said that since the past one year, BBC World had been exploring strategic options for Lonely Planet, which included looking for a buyer who would invest in the business.

"We acquired Lonely Planet in 2007 when both our strategy and the market conditions were quite different,'' said Dempsey.

"Since then, Lonely Planet has increased its presence in digital, magazine publishing and emerging markets whilst also growing its global market share, despite difficult economic conditions.''

"However, we have also recognised that it no longer fits with our plans to put BBC brands at the heart of our business and have decided to sell the company to NC2 Media who are better placed to build and invest in the business."

Melbourne, Australia-based Lonely Planet is the largest travel guide book publisher in the world. For over 30 years, expert travel writers at Lonely Planet and their on-the-ground research and no-holds-barred opinion have inspired and guided independent travelers to explore the world around them.

Maureen and Tony Wheeler had launched the Lonely Planet Guide in 1972 after selling 1,500 copies of their first book, Across Asia on the Cheap, which was inspired by their honeymoon trip that took them on an overland trip from Europe to Australia in a beat-up old car and a few dollars in the pocket.

That trip also started the Wheelers' journey of a lifetime not just in exploring all the places that interested them, but in a publishing venture, as well.

Lonely Planet's new owner NC2 is based in Tennessee, whose executive director, Daniel Houghton, would be the new chief operating officer.

''With this acquisition comes a global footprint, not only in the travel guide business, but also in magazine publishing and the digital space. We are very excited about this opportunity, and delighted to agree this deal with BBC Worldwide,'' Houghton said.

''The challenge and promise before us is to marry the world's greatest travel information and guidebook company with the limitless potential of 21st century digital technology. If we can do this, and I believe we can, we can build a business that, while remaining true to the things that made Lonely Planet great in the past, promises to make it even greater in the future.''