BBC Worldwide Acquires Lonely Planet

LONDON/MELBOURNE, October 1: BBC Worldwide has acquired the
travel information group Lonely Planet in a deal that aims to extend the
franchise’s iconic travel guides across multiple media platforms.

The privately owned business is being sold by Tony and
Maureen Wheeler, who jointly founded the company in 1972, and John Singleton,
who became a shareholder in 1999. Under the deal, the Wheelers will retain a
25-percent shareholding in the company.

Lonely Planet, which has significant operations in the U.K.,
California and Australia, is led by CEO Judy Slatyer and her management team,
who will be staying with the business. Lonely Planet’s global headquarters will
remain in Melbourne.

Lonely Planet publishes around 500 titles including
specialist activity guides, shoestring guides and phrasebooks. It publishes in
various languages, including English, French, German, Italian, Japanese,
Korean, Mandarin and Spanish. The company also produces and develops factual
programming for international broadcasters through Lonely Planet Television.
Its flagship TV series, Lonely Planet Six Degrees, produced for Discovery Networks, is now in its third season, and
screens in over 100 countries. Meanwhile, Lonely Planet’s website receives 4.3
million unique visitors a month and Lonely Planet’s travel video site,
lonelyplanet.tv, allows travelers to upload and watch their own video as well
as view videos created by Lonely Planet.

John Smith, the CEO of BBC Worldwide, said: “We are
delighted to be announcing this acquisition today. Lonely Planet is a highly
respected international brand and a global leader in the provision of travel
information. This deal fits well with our strategy to create one of the world’s
leading content businesses, to grow our portfolio of content brands online and
to increase our operations in Australia and America.”