BBC Buys Lonely Planet
By Jessica | Permalink |
6 comments | October 1st, 2007 | Trackback
We at BootsnAll were surprised to read the news today that guidebook giant Lonely Planet has been purchased by BBC Worldwide. We’re fans of the LP books, and we think extremely highly of LP founders Tony and Maureen Wheeler. It was a particular thrill when Tony Wheeler visited the BootsnAll offices this past summer. One of the things that has always been so appealing about the Lonely Planet “family” is their independent streak - so you can imagine how the sale of the company would be a little surprising to us.
BBC apparently is looking to increase their visibility and “expand operations” in America and Australia, so purchasing Lonely Planet - based in Australia and wildly popular in the United States - fits right into that plan. The Wheelers and John Singleton, who collectively owned the company, will retain a 25% share of the new entity.
The deal was first reported to be for an “undisclosed sum,” but the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is now saying the sale price was $250 million. While there’s no mention on the LP site about the deal, here is a link to an mp3 recording of Tony Wheeler explaining the decision to sell - and he actually uses the phrase “selling out.” You can read more here.
Of course, it remains to be seen if there will be any changes made to the way LP operates. As such a force to be reckoned with in the guidebook world, any changes will inevitably be noticed. We’ll keep an eye out, that’s for sure.
Comments
Thank for the info, Warren, most interesting. Hard work still pays off!
[…] TravelNewsGuide certainly seems to feel the changes will be for the worse with their headline, “BBC takes over Lonely Planet guidebooks.” I don’t feel it’s that dire even though it is a 75% stake. I’d like to hope that part of the reason for the BBC’s interest in LP is the existing product and the audience it reaches. I do think it’s interesting that Tony Wheeler uses the phrase selling out. I wonder if Unlikely Destinations/Once While Travelling was meant to be a final hurrah for he and Maureen? […]
If they “sell out” a 75% share at $AUD250 million, that tends to suggest that the 25% ownership that they kept is currently worth more than $AUD80 million.
When Tony Wheeler uses the phrase “selling out”, it could be just tongue-in-cheek British humour. Know what I mean?
When he used the phrase “selling out” it wasn’t tongue-in-cheek, and it wasn’t an attempt at humor. Listen to the mp3 linked in the story above to hear him say it in context.
I’ll take your word for it, Jessica because I can’t access that particular file from my current location in China.
Post your comment
If you have not commented here before, please take a moment to peruse ourCommenting Guidelines.
What is BootsnAll
- Youth Hostels
- BootsnAll Travel Network
- About Us
- Contact Us
- Travel Insurance Guide
- Travel Message Boards
- Adventure Trips
- Cheap Air Tickets
More BootsnAll
- Why Go
- BnA Typepad Blog
- BnA WordPress Blog
- Blogspot for BnA
- BootsnAll Vox
- Subscribe to BootBlog RSS Feed
Monthly Archives
BootsnAll Logues
TRAVEL THEMES
DESTINATIONS
SPORTS
[Quote] ” … The Wheelers and John Singleton, who collectively owned the company, will retain a 25% share of the new entity…”
Well done, guys !!!
Tony Wheeler was born in Great Britain in 1946. His wife, Maureen was born in Northern Ireland.
Lonely Planet Publications was born in 1973 after the Wheelers joined the Asian ‘hippie trail’ of the early ’70s … and ended up penniless in Australia.
The ABC would have been referring to Australian currency when stating the figure of $250 million. Still, not a bad little retirement sum in anybody’s language.
By the way, Australian businessman/entrepreneur John Singleton was born in Sydney’s inner west in 1941. His first job, was a mail boy for the J Walter Thompson agency at the age of 17.