Reed Business Information has sold its B2B travel publishing division, including the flagship Travel Weekly magazine, to entrepreneur Clive Jacobs.
Jacobs is the founder of car rental business Holiday Autos, which he sold to lastminute.com in 2003.
He has agreed to buy Travel Weekly, Travolution, Gazetteers.com and a number of associated websites and events from RBI for an undisclosed sum.
The newly acquired business will be run by the former publishing director of RBI’s travel division, Simon Ferguson, who left the company in March after more than 10 years.
Ferguson takes the role of chief executive in the new company, TW Group.
RBI divisional managing director Jane Burgess said in statement: “The travel portfolio has been a valued part of RBI, but we recognise that, under Clive’s independent ownership, the team will be able to integrate completely into the industry they serve.
“Clive, Simon and their management at TW Group Ltd are committed to our talented people and will provide long-term investment and a secure future for the team and brands – on this basis we were pleased to take forward the deal when we were approached.”
Reed Business Information attempted to sell its B2B magazine division in one piece last year, but the sale was abandoned in December because it felt the offers did not reflect the value of the business.
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