BBC to sell Lonely Planet at $151m loss to US media firm
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A satellite transmission dish is seen near BBC Television Centre at White City in London on Feb 18, 2013. BBC is selling the Lonely Planet travel guide business to a US media firm at a loss of almost £80 million (S$151 million), the British broadcaster said on Tuesday, March 19, 2013. -- FILE PHOTO: REUTERS
LONDON (AFP) - The BBC's commercial arm is selling the Lonely Planet travel guide business to a US media firm at a loss of almost £80 million (S$151 million), the British broadcaster said on Tuesday.
NC2 Media will buy Lonely Planet, which publishes hugely popular travel guides in nine languages, for £51.5 million.
But the price is a massive 60 per cent loss on the £130.2 million that BBC Worldwide spent acquiring the publisher in two chunks in 2007 and 2011.
The BBC Trust, the broadcaster's governing body, has ordered a review into the huge loss.
