Exchange & Mart set to change hands after UBM starts auction

LONDON - United Business Media is to auction off classified titles Exchange & Mart and Auto Exchange, with analysts predicting that a bidding war between rival publishers could raise up to £100m.

UBM has decided it is in its shareholders' interests to sell because the titles would be more valuable to other groups, and has already been in contact with potential suitors. Revenue for the two titles was £35.8m last year.

Bernard Gray, chief executive of CMP Information, the division which manages the titles, said: "We have been approached with regard to these, indicating that there is already an encouraging level of interest."

Trinity Mirror, which publishes Classic Car Mart among other special interest consumer titles, is understood to be interested.

Daily Mail & General Trust and Johnston Press are also possible buyers, although the latter only last week agreed to pay out £155m to acquire Scottish Radio Holding's local newspapers.

The classified print market has been experiencing circulation falls as the success of publishers' own internet operations, as well as that of outsiders such as eBay, bites. Exchange & Mart sold an average of 89,115 copies in the last six months of 2004 compared with just over 96,158 copies for the same period in 2003.

However, its website attracted 5m page impressions per month in 2004 and Auto Exchange held a 70% share of free pick-up magazines in its sector.

Separately, News Corporation is also looking to dispose of some non-core titles for an estimated £250m, probably to raise money for investment in print facilities to increase the colour capacity of its national newspapers.

The titles for sale include The Times Educational Supplement, The Times Higher Educational Supplement and Nursery World, and possibly The Times Literary Supplement.

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