Launched in 2001, Eve has been the fastest-growing women's glossy for the past three ABC periods and, with 17.6% year-on-year growth in the last set of figures, has a circulation of 142,382.
BBC Worldwide only announced that it was putting the title up for sale in December and magazine giants Emap, IPC Media and Hachette Filipacchi UK were all believed to be the most likely buyers.
Haymarket has no other women's titles, although it has been steadily developing its consumer business. As well as a portfolio of motoring magazines, including What Car and F1 Racing, it publishes FourFourTwo and Stuff magazine, which it acquired from Dennis in 1999.
Last year, it launched Rip & Burn, a new digital music magazine targeting music downloaders and digital music player owners.
Peter Phippen, managing director of BBC Magazines, said: "Once the decision had been taken to sell, it was important for the future of the magazine and the staff that we completed a sale as quickly as possible."
Haymarket will take over publishing Eve from the April 2005 issue. All Eve staff will transfer with the title.
Eric Verdon-Roe, managing director of Haymarket Group, said: "This is a significant move for Haymarket and we are very excited to have the opportunity to publish such a successful title with the entire publishing staff on board.
"We aim for Eve to be the flagship of a new women's interest group and fully intend to invest in its growth to ensure it remains the very best magazine for the definitive woman."
Haymarket and the BBC have worked together extensively in the past, having signed a customer publishing deal in 2003 in addition to a long-standing relationship between the two companies in the exhibitions market, creating live events such as BBC Good Food Show.
BBC Worldwide is also looking to offload What to Wear magazine as it focuses on core titles such as Top Gear and Radio Times. Non-conforming magazines at the recently acquired Origin Publishing are also set to be offloaded.
Haymarket Group chairman Lord Heseltine said that the acquisition could see Haymarket develop its own women's publishing division.
"Haymarket wants to create a new women's division and the success of Eve will only be the beginning of a new publishing force in the women's market. I am thrilled that we will all be a part of making a reality of that vision," he said.
For Haymarket, the Eve acquisition is the latest in a string of buys. Before Christmas, it completed the acquisition of the German horticultural publisher Thalacker Group and, earlier in 2004, it acquired Australian technology publisher AJB Publishing.
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