Here are some comments made about the pending sale of BusinessWeek to Bloomberg LP on the McGraw-Hill Cos. conference call Monday.
CEO Terry McGraw:
“As I’ve said before, in this environment management is reviewing, obviously, everything within the portfolio and that obviously included evaluating strategic options for BusinessWeek. BusinessWeek in its 80 years with McGraw-Hill Cos. has made significant contributions to this company. We must focus on resources on areas with the greatest opportunities for growth and that means building size and scale globally in essential markets and expanding our digital capabilities. In reaching an agreement with Bloomberg we believe that BusinessWeek will continue to operate within an organization that shares the same high standards for editorial independence, integrity and excellence that are the hallmarks of this publication.”
CFO Robert Bahash:
“On October 13 we signed an agreement to sell BusinessWeek to Bloomberg. We will receive $5 million in cash and Bloomberg will assume certain liabilities including our unfulfilled subscription liabilities.”
“The divestiture will reduce our dependence on advertising revenue. Following the divestiture of BusinessWeek advertising will represent about 2% of pro-forma total revenue versus approximately 4% previously.”
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