Chrysalis Group has confirmed the sale of its loss-making books division to its management team for £12.5 million.
The sale will see Chrysalis Books become part of the Anova Books Company, formed by the company’s chief executive and other senior managers of the division. The new company will also take on the outstanding debt owed by Chrysalis Books to the Chrysalis Group.
Commenting on the sale, Chrysalis chief executive Richard Huntingford said: “The exit from our loss-making and non-core books division achieves our objective of focusing Chrysalis Group on our core radio and music businesses where we enjoy strong market positions that offer good growth prospects and potential for developing long-term shareholder value.”
Chrysalis announced plans to sell its books arm earlier this year, claiming the decision would allow the management to concentrate on the group’s core music radio and music businesses (see Chrysalis To Sell Books Division)
Chrysalis’s book publishing activities produced weaker than expected results in the company’s latest trading statement, reflecting ongoing trading difficulties across a number of areas of the book publishing division.
Earlier this summer, Chrysalis revealed a dramatic drop in its profits for the first half of the financial year, attributing the decline to falling audiences and a difficult period of trading in its books division (see Chrysalis Reveals Drop In First Half Profits).
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