BBC Worldwide has confirmed plans to sell Lonely Planet to NC2 Media, a U.S. digital media company that the New York Times described as "controlled by Brad Kelley, a businessman from Kentucky who made a fortune in tobacco and later turned his attention to real estate and other interests." Kelley is said to be one of the largest landowners in the U.S.
Lonely Planet's sale price of £51.5 million (about $77.1 million) has been criticized by the BBC Trust and others because the BBC originally paid £130 million ($195 million) for the company, in two installments in 2007 and 2011.
Still, Lonely Planet's revenue has risen to £1.1 billion ($1.65 billion) in 2012 from £810 million ($1.2 billion) in 2007, and profit rose to £155 million ($232.1 million) from £111 million ($166.2 million) in the same period, the Financial Times wrote.
In a statement, Daniel Houghton, executive director of NC2 Media, said, "The challenge and promise before us is to marry the world's greatest travel information and guidebook company with the limitless potential of 21st century digital technology. If we can do this, and I believe we can, we can build a business that, while remaining true to the things that made Lonely Planet great in the past, promises to make it even greater in the future."
