News International sells Love It! mag

News International has sold its consumer magazine publishing company News Magazines, publisher of Love It!, to Hubert Burda Media.

The publishing group launched its News Magazines arm three years ago in a bid to compete in the consumer magazine sector, however, the company reported a £10 million loss in the 12 months to June 2007.

Love It! remains the only title in News Magazines’ portfolio, following News International’s decision to move Sky Magazine and the Sunday Times Travel Magazine in-house (see News International Set To Close Magazines Unit).

The weekly real-life title Love It! was the first and most successful magazine to be launched by News Magazines in February 2006 and currently has a circulation of just over 372,000, according to the latest ABC release (see ABC Results Jan-Jun 2008:Take A Break Stays On Top Of Women’s Weekly Market).

The magazines unit had planned to launch four similar new titles following the initial success with Love It! but failed to attract enough advertising revenue.

Hubert Burda Media UK publishes its own real-life weekly title, Full House!, as well as a number of other consumer magazines, including Your Home, Health & Fitness and Period House.

Luke Patten, chief executive of Hubert Burda, said: “We are delighted with the acquisition of Love It!. News Magazines created a leading title within our sector with a distinctive appeal to readers.

“It fits very well with our other titles and is well place to grow further,” he added.

Hubert Burda Media Group publishes 260 magazines worldwide.

News International: 020 7782 3922 www.newscorp.co.uk