Budget Travel Sold
One month after denying death rumors, Newsweek-owned Budget Travel has been sold to Fletcher Asset Management for an undisclosed amount.
In a release about the deal, Fletcher said it plans to “support the current management team, which will be responsible for the day-to-day operation of Budget Travel magazine and budgettravel.com” and will “keep essentially all” of the mag’s current staff.
Last month, after rumors of Budget Travel‘s demise were squashed, word leaked out that Newsweek was seeking a buyer for the travel mag. Now, it looks like Budget Travel will live on, just under new ownership.
Full release after the jump
Previously: Budget Travel Looking For Investors
Newsweek Enters Agreement for the Sale of Budget Travel
NEW YORK, Dec. 17 /PRNewswire/ — Newsweek, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Washington Post Company (NYSE: WPO), announced today that it has entered into an agreement with an affiliate of Fletcher Asset Management, Inc. (Fletcher) to acquire all of Newsweek’s equity interests in Newsweek Budget Travel, Inc. (Budget Travel). The acquisition is expected to close by December 31, 2009. The financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Fletcher will support the current management team, which will be responsible for the day-to-day operation of Budget Travel magazine and budgettravel.com and has indicated that it intends to keep essentially all of Budget Travel’s employees.
Tom Ascheim, Chief Executive Officer of Newsweek said:
“We have been proud to publish Budget Travel, a magazine and website that has won many awards and is well-respected in the industry. We are delighted that under the ownership of Fletcher, Budget Travel’s legacy will carry on and its staff will continue to do their great work.”
Moez Kaba, an executive from Fletcher Asset Management said:
“We are thankful for the opportunity we have had to collaborate with Newsweek in realizing value for The Washington Post Company and positioning the award-winning team at Budget Travel to develop compelling new opportunities for their passionate community to access and share memorable experiences.”
About Fletcher Asset Management, Inc.
For more than 18 years, investments from Fletcher Asset Management, Fletcher International, Limited, and their affiliates have supported dynamic and responsible management teams leading more than 50,000 employees at dozens of promising companies in a variety of industries. Additional information is available at www.fletcher.com.
