Magazine publisher Future has completed its takeover of rival TI Media in a deal worth £140m after selling off three titles over competition concerns.
The merger, which was first proposed back in October, has been finalised at a time when both publishers have furloughed staff as the coronavirus impacts their businesses, with Future also closing six titles.
TI Media, formerly Time Inc UK, publishes 38 titles, including Golf Monthly, Rugby World, Country Life, Woman and Home, Wallpaper and Cycling Weekly. The UK’s competition watchdog told Future it had to sell three titles before it could approve the deal.
As a result, it has sold World Soccer and Amateur Photographer to Kelsey Media and Trusted Reviews to Incisive Media. The sales are expected to complete in the next few weeks.
Golf Monthly’s average monthly circulation figures for Jan-Dec 2019 were 32,882, with 16,474 subscriptions and an average of 9,538 copies sold on the newsstands per issue.