Immediate Media, the publisher based in Bristol and London, is to acquire a portfolio of sport and craft print and digital publications from rival Future for £24m.
Under the deal around 130 staff working on the titles will be transferred from Bath-based Future to Immediate, the UK's third-largest magazine publisher with titles including Radio Times.
Immediate, which is owned by Exponent Private Equity, has 850 staff across its offices in London and Bristol and publishes 34 websites and 50 magazines with more than 1m subscribers. 
Future, which is currently undergoing a major restructuring programme which will lead to some job losses among its 900 staff, said the move simplified its business and supported its focus on consumer technology markets.
Earlier this month Future launched a 45-day consultation with its entire workforce – 500 of them based in Bath – over the future shape of the business.
Today it said it planned 170 job cuts in the UK. The extent of its financial problems was exposed by its half-year results which showed it made a £700,000 loss for the six-month period to the end of March against a £1.1m profit in the same period last year.
Future chief executive Zillah Byng-Maddick said in a statement to the London Stock Exchange this morning: “The disposal . . . is a key step in the new strategy to transform Future into a more simplified business, focussing on core verticals with an emphasis on the consumer technology market. The disposal titles are well managed and successful parts of the business and they will thrive under their new ownership.”
“I’m pleased that as we say goodbye to colleagues, I’m confident they are moving to an excellent home at Immediate.”
The deal is set to complete during the summer, subject to shareholder approval.
Immediate was formed in 2011 by the merger of BBC Magazines and digital platform company Magicalia. Its vision is to create a multi-platform content company in sustainable growth. Its titles include Gardeners’ World, Good Food, Top Gear, CBeebies, olive, BBC History and Homes & Antiques. 
Chief executive Tom Bureau, pictured, said today: “We are delighted to have reached this agreement with Future. Immediate’s strategy is to create the leading special interest content and platform company, and these brands fit with our vision. We are developing our business around leading content brands, highly-engaged specialist communities, and multi-platform commercial models.
“We have a track record of investing in our brands, around content and platforms, and we are excited to be welcoming the new teams to our company.”
The deal is made up of £22m in cash and £2m of magazines subscriptions deferred revenue to be retained by Future.
Future’s sport titles reach more than 4.7m unique users a month, and will join Immediate’s fast-growing digital network. Focused on cycling, the sport portfolio includes BikeRadar.com, the world’s largest cycling reviews website, alongside Cyclingnews.com, the world’s number one source for pro cycling news and race reports.
The print portfolio has a monthly circulation of more than 100,000 with market-leading title Cycling Plus growing circulation for 14 years, alongside other leading titles Procycling and the market leader for off road cyclists, Mountain Biking UK. 
Immediate Media said the craft sector had “shown impressive growth” in print in the past few years and Future’s portfolio had led through innovation and inspiration, with a track record of successful launches, including the recent Love Patchwork & Quilting.
“Its Simply Knitting is the largest audited print craft title in the UK, while contemporary brand Mollie Makes has re-invigorated the general craft market, with the largest combined circulation, including digital editions,” it said.
The deal also includes Future’s contemporary lifestyle brand The Simple Things. The brands will join Immediate’s own portfolio of titles including Cardmaking and Papercraft, Craftseller and The World of Cross Stitching.
Full list of brands Immediate is buying from Future:
Craft: Mollie Makes (UK and US), The Knitter, Simply Knitting, Crochet Today! Simply Crochet, Love Patchwork & Quilting, Cross Stitcher, Cross Stitch Collection, Papercraft Inspirations, Your Family Tree, The Simple Things.
Cycling: Procycling, Cycling Plus, Mountain Biking UK, What Mountain Bike, Urban Cyclist, On Your Bike, BikeRadar.com, Cyclingnews.com, Onyourbike.org, Bikely.com.
