PrintWeek's sister title MediaWeek reported that owner Richard Desmond had employed investment bank Barclays Capital to oversee the sale of the titles, which include OK! Magazine.

However, a spokesman for Desmond told PrintWeek this afternoon that cross-media was "very important" to Desmond, who also owns the Daily Star and Daily Express newspapers and Channel 5 television station, which has recently launched an OK! Magazine show.

"It is pure speculation," the spokesman added.

According to MediaWeek, a confidential Barclays Capital presentation details the sale proposals, which also include international versions of OK! and Star and New! magazines.

The presentation reveals that OK! Magazine made a profit of around £20m last year; however the title's circulation was down 23.4% year-on-year in the latest set of six-month figures.