Highbury House set to buy out Paragon
A major shake-up in the videogame magazine publishing market is on the way, with Highbury House set to purchase Paragon Publishing in a move which will create one of the UK's largest consumer magazine publishers.
A major shake-up in the videogame magazine publishing market is on the way, with Highbury House set to purchase Paragon Publishing in a move which will create one of the UK's largest consumer magazine publishers.
Under the terms of the proposed deal - which has yet to be ratified by Highbury's shareholders - Highbury House would acquire Paragon for approximately £32 million, with Paragon managing director Mark Simpson joining the Highbury House board on completion of the acquisition.
Paragon is one of the UK's leading publishers of videogames and computing magazines, with titles such as Play, P2, XBM, Cube, PowerStation and PC Home in its portfolio. The company also publishes popular DVD and movie mags such as HotDog and DVD Review.
Highbury House doesn't have a great deal of experience in the videogame magazine industry - although it was the overall parent company responsible for trade magazines CTW and Indie for a number of years. A move into consumer videogame publishing, however, is a step into a new market for Highbury.
"We are delighted to announce the acquisition of Paragon," commented Highbury House chairman Ian Fletcher, "which will further strengthen our consumer business. Paragonâs titles... will complement and broaden our existing portfolio."
The acquisition news comes just as consumer mag publishing rival Future has released a trading statement showing that its revenues and market share continue to grow. It will be interesting to see whether the financial backing and market strength of Highbury House will enable Paragon to compete more effectively with the powerhouse of Future's portfolio in the cut-throat games mag sector.