Alongside the sale, a new joint publishing venture has been launched between Archant and Bonnier Corp, with Archant continuing to publish Sport Diver in the UK and EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) region as Bonnier's EMEA publishing partner.
The move builds on Bonnier Corp’s international expansion within the dive market — just last year it introduced the Sport Diver brand into the Asia-Pacific region with the introduction of its digital-only magazine Sport Diver Asia Pacific. In addition to Sport Diver, Bonnier publishes Scuba Diving and produces The Undersea Journal as part of a contract publishing agreement with PADI (a dive certification agency).
The acquisition also expands the Sport Diver brand relationship with PADI and the PADI Diving Society, whose mission is to inspire, entertain, inform and motivate divers to become and remain active members of the diving community.
Archant Lifestyle MD, Miller Hogg, said: “Archant is delighted to be working with Bonnier and we believe this arrangement will see Sport Diver grow its sale and influence in the UK and EMEA region.
“All Sport Diver UK staff will remain employed by Archant and there will be no disruption in any way to our publishing cycle. Both companies will work together to co-ordinate our networks, content and initiatives to the benefits of our combined audience and our commercial partners. Both teams can now sell a global solution to their respective client bases.”
CEO of Bonnier Corp, Dave Freygang, said: “This is really the next step in our globalization of the Sport Diver brand. Plans are to expand into the German market in 2014 and throughout Europe in future years. This is a big moment for Sport Diver and Bonnier Corp tapping into new markets and revenue.”
