Sport Media approaches rival publishers to offload Front

LONDON - Daily Sport publisher Sport Media Group is looking to sell its lads magazine Front a year after acquiring the title as it tries to shore up finances across the group.

Sport and Front to part company
Sport and Front to part company

Sport Media paid £125,000 in cash for Front magazine's parent company, Flip Media, as well as agreeing to pay off £140,000 in loans made to the group.

It is understood Sport Media has approached, among others, a number of rival publishers to offload the title, the circulation of which has been hit by readers deserting its fare of scantily clad girls, music and films. It is also in talks with a company called Money Management, which manages talent in the entertainment industry, about a deal.

The monthly title, with a cover price of £3.50, had a circulation of more than 40,000 when Sport Media bought it - way down on its highest ABC circulation of more than 150,000 in 2000.

At the time of the June 2008 deal for Front, Flip Media's flagship publication, Sport Media Group also acquired the magazine brands Hotdog and DVD World. The group sold DVD World to Fire Publishing six months ago, and Hotdog ceased publication in late 2006.

Sport Media acquired Front to expand its presence in the 18 to 25-year-old male readership sector. The decision to offload it follows the return of the former owner of the Daily Sport, David Sullivan and Gold Group International, which agreed to loan Sport Media Group £1.68m to help it restructure the business.

Front, launched as a rival to IPC's Loaded, was first published by Cabal Communication in 1998.

Sport Media Group, which put itself up for sale in February this year, confirmed it was looking for a buyer for the title.

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