A likely deal between the German technology and media group and the London-headquartered publisher and content specialist was flagged at the end of last year.
Immediate Media chief executive Tom Bureau confirmed the deal had gone through in a memo to staff yesterday evening.
He said: “I believe that this is incredibly positive news for us all and that Burda is a great partner for us. They’re very excited about what we’ve achieved over the last five years and want to help us continue to build a great business.”
The Immediate Media group of companies made an operating profit of £36.7m on sales of £177.5m in its last financial year, to 31 March 2016. It employs more than 1,300 staff across its eight divisions, and sells more than 70m magazines a year, including the UK’s most profitable magazine, Radio Times, which sells just under 670,000 copies a week and has more than 260,000 subscribers.
Other titles include BBC Good Food and BBC Gardeners’ World, and the Cbeebies and Horrible Histories publications. It is also involved with online marketplaces and TV shopping.
Its main print suppliers are Wyndeham Group, which took on the work previously printed by Polestar last year, and William Gibbons.
Hubert Burda has acquired 100% of the business from private equity firm Exponent and the management team.
In a statement, chief executive Paul-Bernhard Kallen described Immediate Media as “a great platform for print as well as digital consumer businesses in the UK”.
“The successful management team brings strength and depth across publishing, technology and e-commerce and has built a growing, profitable company with a large and loyal customer base. We believe Burda and Immediate Media match perfectly – with regards to the business segments as well as to the entrepreneurial mindset of both companies,” he said.
The terms of the deal were not disclosed, although a figure of £260m had been mooted.
The €2.2bn (£1.9bn) turnover German group has 540 brands worldwide and circa 10,000 employees. Its digital investments include stakes in online marketplace Etsy and networking site Xing.de, and it recently took a “significant minority stake” in Notonthehighstreet.com as part of a £21m funding round at the business.
In the UK, Hubert Burda publishes special interest consumer titles, including Your Home and Essential Kitchen Bathroom Bedroom, and a handful of B2B magazines. A spokesman for the group said Immediate Media and Hubert Burda UK would continue to operate as separate entities.
Immediate Media had been backed by Exponent Private Equity since its inception in 2011. Bureau also praised the Exponent team for their support, describing them as “magnificent”.
