Germans eye stake in BBC books

THE BBC is thought to be in talks with publisher Random House over a deal that could give the German company a stake in BBC Books, Britain's leading hardback non-fiction publisher.

BBC Books is part of BBC Worldwide, the corporation's commercial arm. Under chief executive Rupert Gavin, BBC Worldwide's sales last year were £640m and it returned £123m to the BBC.

The books arm specialises in spin-off titles from television series and is the market leader in gardening, history, food and drink titles.

Among its most successful titles are Sir David Attenborough's Life Of Mammals as well as books by television cook Delia Smith and gardener Alan Titchmarsh. The division also includes BBC Audiobooks with nearly 4,000 titles.

Random House is one of the world's biggest publishers. It is part of the privately-owned Bertelsmann group, which also includes music group BMG. Bertelsmann also has a majority stake in Channel 5 through its television arm, RTL. A BBC spokesman would say only that its books division was not for sale.