Tycoon pulls out of group buying Nielsen Business Media, publisher of titles including Billboard and Adweek
Lachlan Murdoch has dropped out of a consortium buying the publisher of US trade magazines including the Hollywood Reporter, Billboard and Adweek in a $70m (£43m) deal, according to reports.
Murdoch, Rupert Murdoch’s eldest son, had been linked with a consortium intent on buying the group Nielsen Business Media magazines through his investment vehicle Illyria.
Adweek reported that a casualty of the deal is Editor & Publisher, the US newspaper industry magazine founded in 1884, which will close.
Murdoch’s company has been replaced by a team that includes former Bear Stearns boss Alan Schwartz, according to the New York Post, which is owned by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation.
Guggenheim Partners, where Schwartz works, has the lead role in the consortium, while Pluribus Capital Management, which includes Matthew Doull, a step-nephew of Conrad Black, has a minority role, Nielsen Business Media confirmed today.
The joint venture, e5 Global Media, is also buying Mediaweek, Brandweek, Backstage, The Clio Awards and Film Journal International from Nielsen.
Last month Murdoch bought 50% of Daily Mail & General Trust’s Australian radio network, selling shares in News Corporation worth $28m to fund the purchase.
Murdoch, News Corporation’s former deputy chief operating officer, quit executive duties at the family firm in 2005 and moved back to Australia to develop his own business interests. He remains a director on the News Corporation board.
The deal is expected to complete on 31 December.
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