Bristol based Origin Publishing Limited was sold to BBC Magazines, its 39% shareholder, last week, and subsequently acquired as part of a larger deal by Exponent Private Equity.
Origin publishes 20 magazines with over 1,000,000 readers and its portfolio includes craft, hair styling and specialist hobby titles. The business, which employs 70 staff, generated a profit of £1.1million in the year to 31 March 2011.
Jos Moule, Partner at VWV, which advised the majority shareholders on the deal, said, "We are delighted to have advised Origin on this attractive deal."
Finance Director, Graham Rose, added "We were very pleased with the professional, practical assistance provided to us by the VWV team”.
The eight partner corporate team at VWV is one of the largest and most experienced corporate teams in the South West and typically advises on corporate deals with a value of between £1million and £10million.
The purchase of magazine titles from BBC Magazines and Origin Publishing by Exponent Private Equity as part of a £121m disposal by BBC Worldwide was given the go ahead by the Office of Fair Trading last month.
Momentum Corporate Finance provided the majority shareholders with financial advice, following on from their role in the initial buy out in 1996.
For further information, please contact Jos Moule on 0117 314 5650.
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