Wanted: careful new owner for car mag

CLASSIFIEDS magazine Exchange & Mart is searching for one careful new owner today after it was put up for sale.

United Business Media hoisted the for sale sign over the publication, widely seen as Britain's third-most popular place to advertise cars after Auto Trader and eBay, after a review found it, and sister title Auto Exchange, would be better served under new ownership.

The company said it had already received some approaches and that it was encouraged by initial levels of interest in the two publications, which one analyst said could fetch as much as £100m.

The titles up for sale generated £35.8m of revenues in 2004, as well as an average of 5m page impressions per month on the E&M website.

E&M, which was launched in 1868 by lawyer and publisher E W Cox from a converted potato warehouse in London's Strand, sells almost 90,000 copies a week. As well as motoring, it includes home & leisure items.

E&M and Auto Exchange form part of United Advertising Publications, a Poole-based division that is also home to Daltons Weekly, Trade-It and the Publican. As part of the review, UAP will merge with another United subsidiary, CMP Information (CMPi), which publishes Property Week and Music Week.

CMPi chief executive Bernard Gray said: 'Exchange & Mart is a particularly strong brand, but one which we believe other organisations are better placed to develop, particularly around the automotive classified sector.

'We have been approached with regard to these titles, indicating that there is already an encouraging level of interest.'

It is the second major disposal by United, following the £383 million sale of market research arm NOP World to German research group GfK in April.