BikeRadar, Cycling Plus and MBUK publisher touted for sale

Immediate Media, the publisher of consumer cycling titles such as BikeRadar and Mountain Biking UK is up for a £300 million sale, says the Sunday Times.

Among the portfolio you’ll find Urban Cyclist, Mountain Biking UK, Cycling Plus, What Mountain Bike, ProCycling, BikeRadar, The Essential Cycling Series and triathlon title 220 Triathlon.

Having itself bought the cycling portfolio from Future Publishing in May 2014, Immediate, one of Britain’s largest publishers, is now touted for a £300 million sale by its private equity owner Exponent. A sale is teed up by summer, according to the Times Sources.

Immediate was created in 2011 as a result of a merger of BBC Magazines, Origin Publishing and Magicalia – a move funded by Exponent.

Cycling Plus retained a leading position in the road cycling market in recent ABC figures with a combined monthly circulation of 43,746.

In mountain biking, Immediate’s brands hold around a majority market share in the UK, unsurprising given the publisher’s portfolio of long-standing print brands – MBUK and What Mountain Bike. Mountain Biking UK recently posted an average monthly circulation of 28,992 copies across print and digital, while What Mountain Bike shifted around 11,131 per issue.