The media merchant bank Veronis Suhler and BBC Worldwide Americas Inc., the North American subsidiary of the commercial arm of the British Broadcasting Company, have formed a joint venture to build a new U.S.-based consumer publishing business through a series of acquisitions. The new venture will initially focus on acquiring consumer lifestyle and informational publishing properties with cross-media expansion potential. The 50/50 joint venture is being capitalized with $100 million.
In addition to contributing some cash, BBCWA will contribute its consumer products division, which includes its video, book and magazine properties. Peter Phippen, president and CEO of BBCWA, will oversee the venture for the BBC. Although magazine acquisitions will be a top priority, Phippen told PW that the BBC also sees the agreement with Veronis Suhler as a way to accelerate the development of the company's original publishing program in the U.S.; currently most of BBCWA's book publishing is conducted through co-editions.
Phippen emphasized that any company acquired through the joint venture will be closely linked to BBCWA's existing operations. "We're a cross-media company. That's our area of expertise," Phippen said. The Internet is one area that the joint venture will look to exploit. Where appropriate, the as-yet-unnamed venture will create cross-promotional opportunities with the BBC's other media properties that are not directly tied to the venture, such as its cable channel BBC America.
