Bath-based international media group Future could sell its recently acquired Sci-Fi Now title to allow its £14.2m acquisition of rival Imagine Publishing to clear a monopolies hurdle.
Last week the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) approved the takeover of Imagine’s 19 titles with the exception of Sci-Fi Now.
Future has agreed with the CMA to ‘ring-fence’ Sci-Fi Now pending resolution of this issue.
Completion of the acquisition is now targeted to take place on October 21 following publication of a prospectus and admission of new ordinary shares being issued to pay for the takeover.
Future, whose brands include T3, Total Film, Edge, MacFormat and Xbox: The Official Magazine, said it would shortly provide an update on this process.
The Imagine deal adds GamesTM, Nowgamer.com, X-ONE, Play, For Beginners, Retro Gamer and World of Animals titles and digital platforms to Future’s portfolio.
Future chief executive Zillah Byng-Thorne said: “The acquisition of Imagine, which will complement and expand our capabilities, is a further substantial step towards our strategy of creating content that connects, increasing scale and improving operational efficiency.
“We are very pleased to have reached an agreement with the CMA so quickly. The financial and operational implications of selling one title are minimal.
“Last year Imagine issued 265 magazines and 257 bookazines as well as delivered 2.4m and 1m copy sales respectively. We look forward to completing the acquisition and integrating the Imagine Publishing portfolio into the business over the next few months.”
Shares in Future shot up by nearly 10% last Friday after it said it was reaping the benefits of its major restructuring of recent years.
In a pre-close trading update released to the London Stock Exchange, the group said overall trading for the year to September 30 had been positive and was expected to be in line with the board’s expectations.
