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The BBC Trust has unveiled a series of changes to the future commercial remit for BBC Worldwide following an 18-month review that affectively rules out any such deals in the future, unless "there are exceptional circumstances".

A clearer focus has also been placed on securing value from the BBC’s own intellectual property in addition to calls for an exit from any activity that is "not in keeping with the BBC brand".

Today’s announcement by the BBC regulator suggests the corporation’s current extensions outside of its own brands, including its Lonely Planet activities and non-programme-based magazine brands, could be put up for sale in the future.

"...the Trust would not expect to consider a commercial deal of the scale and nature of the Lonely Planet acquisition in future,"  said Sir Michael Lyons, chairman of the BBC Trust.

"The Trust will want to ensure that BBC Worldwide’s plans for Lonely Planet secure the best value for licence fee payers and will keep its long-term future under review."

In addition, the Trust has supported the Executive’s recommendation to make BBC Worldwide’s activities a "more internationally facing business", citing the BBC's fifth public purpose of "bringing the UK to the world and the world to the UK".

The Trust notes that such activity "must contribute to the BBC's fulfilment of its public purposes as well as the scale of the dividend passed back to the BBC".

Lyons said that while BBC Worldwide is a successful business which brings "both significant financial benefits for the licence fee payer and a tangible boost to the creative economy", the boundaries for activity need to be clearer.

He added: "We're satisfied that these changes will provide much-needed clarity and a greater alignment with the BBC's public purposes, without stifling Worldwide's ability to perform as a thriving and profitable entity."

The Trust launched the review in July 2008 to ensure the BBC's commercial strategy was "properly aligned with the BBC's public service interest" and that its strategy and operations was "duly sensitive" to the concerns of other commercial players in the market.