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Highbury House To Buy Paragon Publishing For £32m

Highbury House To Buy Paragon Publishing For £32m

UK publishing group Highbury House Communications (HHC) has made a £32 million offer for Paragon Publishing, which produces magazines in the videogames, personal computing and internet and home entertainment sectors.

Highbury says that the deal will create one of the UK’s leading special interest consumer publishers and the third largest publicly-quoted consumer magazine publishing group. The deal is subject to approval from HHC’s shareholders.

Paragon publishes 33 consumer magazines in the UK. It was acquired by a management team led by current managing director Mark Simpson in May 1999. Its portfolio reaches a predominantly male readership, targeting people who are passionate about their hobbies. This allows the group to charge higher than average cover prices.

In the videogames market Paragon’s titles include PLAY, PowerStation, P2 and Cube. Other titles include Hotdog (acquired from IFG Publishing early last year), DVD Review and PC Basics.

Highbury House operates in both the consumer and business-to-business sectors and has been steadily growing its business over the last few years. It recently bought Cabal Communications (see Highbury House To Buy Cabal Comms, As Profits Rise 9%), along with a number of other smaller acquisitions in 2001. The Paragon deal is one of its largest acquisitions yet.

Shares in Highbury House Communications were unchanged 22.75p at 10.30am today.

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