Three magazines formerly published by Bath-based media group Future have their third owner in eight months following an enforced sale sparked by the UK competition watchdog.
Your Family Tree, Cross Stitcher and Cross Stitch Collection were among a package of craft and cycling magazines sold by Future last May to Bristol-based rival Immediate Media for £24m. The disposal came as loss-making Future undertook a root-and-branch shake-up of the business to drastically lower costs. 
But the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) ruled that by adding the three titles to its existing genealogy and needlecraft portfolio Immediate, the UK’s third-largest magazine group, could be in breach of competition rules.
The three titles and their digital versions have now been offloaded by Immediate to London-based Dennis Publishing, which operates 30 brands mainly in the automotive, technology, fitness and current affairs sectors, including AutoExpress, MacUser, Men’s Fitness and Viz.
Dennis, the UK’s sixth-largest magazine publisher, said the acquisition would extend its reach as a specialist publisher and bring a new audience to its existing portfolio. The craft sector continued to demonstrate strong growth in newsstand copy sales, it said, while the genealogy sector, a sub-sector of the history market, continued to be resilient.
Chief executive James Tye said: “Craft and history are two of the areas that are still seeing growth in the UK magazine market. We have a proven track record of acquiring and improving brands in new sectors and this underlines our commitment to continuing growth, both in print and digitally.”
The CMA said it had carefully assessed and consulted publicly on the sale, including the suitability of Dennis as buyer.
“The CMA did not receive any concerns in response to its public consultation. The CMA is satisfied that the undertakings will resolve the competition concerns identified and that Dennis as purchaser will operate the magazines in competition to Immediate Media,” it said.
Immediate, which is backed by Exponent Private Equity, has 850 staff in London and Bristol, and publishes 34 websites and 50 magazines with more than 1m subscribers.
It was formed in 2011 by the merger of BBC Magazines and digital platform company Magicalia. Its titles include Radio Times, Gardeners’ World, Good Food, Top Gear, CBeebies, olive, BBC History and Homes & Antiques.
Among the titles bought from Future were Simply Crochet, The Simple Things, BikeRadar.com and Onyourbike.org.
