Ex-Miller Freeman directors to bid for Emap publications

A start-up team comprising two former Miller Freeman managing

directors is rumoured to have joined the bidding for the package of

titles Emap is to sell off.

The business magazines for sale include Media Week and UK Press

Gazette.

The breakaway team is understood to consist of Roger Michael, former

managing director of Miller Freeman Technical, and Stan Arnold,

ex-managing director of Miller Freeman Publishers, who were ousted in a

boardroom coup last October.

Financial backing from City sources, believed to be the venture

capitalist, 3i, will help the team’s struggle against its apparent rival

in the bid, Quantum Publishing, which produces the Publican and

Nightclub.

Tony Harris, the managing director of Emap Media, declined to reveal the

identity of the contenders. ’We are in an advanced stage of the

negotiations, but an announcement cannot be expected for a few weeks

yet,’ he said.

Staff at Emap have received a formal announcement from management

regarding the titles to be included in the package. But Marina Thaine,

the company’s corporate communications director, said: ’We can’t say

which titles will be sold, or if they are to be sold, as we don’t have a

deal until we have negotiated it with the buyer.’

This article was first published on Campaign