Attic Futura pulled from market in PMP U-turn

Australian company PMP has abandoned plans to sell Attic Futura, the publisher of magazines Sugar and TV Hits.

The publishing company has been up for sale since March this year (MW March 8).

According to a spokeswoman for Attic Futura: “Attic Futura is not for sale at the moment. PMP sold part of Pacific Publications, which owns Attic Futura.”

Pacific Publications, which is the magazine division of PMP, was partially sold to an Australian TV company, Seven Network. Seven now has a 50 per cent stake in Pacific Publications.

It was rumoured earlier in the year that both BBC Worldwide and H Bauer had put in bids to buy Attic Futura, but that they didn’t offer enough money.

In the UK, the Attic Futura stable includes All About Soap, B, CD:UK and Inside Soap. The Audit Bureau of Circulation figures for the first half of this year showed a decline of 9.6 per cent in Attic Futura’s year-on-year – and 8.5 per cent in period-on-period – circulation.

Attic Futura’s teenage title Sugar has signed an exclusive deal with COI communications to produce a 12-page special supplement dedicated to the subject of teenage pregnancy.

The supplement, produced with the Teen Pregnancy Unit, will be available from November 30.

This summer Attic Futura closed Shine, its women’s health and beauty magazine, blaming disappointing sales in a crowded market.

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