The fate of publisher Attic Futura is expected to be sealed imminently, with the sale of the company at a knock-down price of £30m. Hachette Filipacchi will end 18 months of speculation about the fate of the company when it announces its purchase of the UK's sixth-biggest magazine publisher later this month.
As revealed by Media Week two weeks ago, the sale will shore up the future of its portfolio of titles, which include the number one teenage girl title Sugar, as well as TV listings titles Inside Soap, All About Soap and TV Hits and women's magazine B.
The publisher's future has been in limbo since its troubled parent company PMP began seeking offers for the group in March 2001, in order to shift its focus on to its core printing and distribution properties.
With a price tag believed to be in the region of £60m, Attic received approaches from most major UK publishers including IPC Media and H Bauer, but the high asking price stalled a deal.
PMP is believed to have eventually sold the business for a sum in the region of £30m, with industry sources suggesting the company was keen to finalize a sale in order to meet its debt payments.
The deal brings up a conundrum for Emap, which runs a joint venture company with Hachette Filipacchi, and for its former chief executive Kevin Hand, who is now a special advisor to Hachette's president Gerald de Roquemaral.
Hand is expected to play a key role in the new Hachette-owned Attic, but a question hangs over what Hachette will now choose to do with its joint venture company with Emap, which publishes Red, New Woman, Elle, Elle Girl, Elle Decoration and Top Santé.
Hand left Emap following its disastrous foray into the US market and would, presumably, want to minimize dealings with the company if he returns to oversee Attic.
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