It was a dark week for BBC Worldwide when it sold Lonely Planet to US-based NC2 Media, a digital content firm. As if the sale wasn’t enough of a shocker, it came to be known that it was done at a 60 percent loss. BBC Worldwide had paid a staggering £130.2m for Lonely Planet in 2007, while now it sold the leading travel guides for a mere £51.5 million. Negotiations of the deal had been going on for months, with Lonely Planet experiencing rough weathers.

BBC’s governing body was much vocal in its criticism of the move by BBC Worldwide. Analysts had also dismissed BBC’s business sense when it had acquired the publishing firm in the first place.

Lonely planet is the leading travel guide series in the world. It has published around 120 million books in 11 different languages, and has almost a million people registered on its site. But with “the continued strength of the Australian dollar, the rapid consolidation of the publishing industry and a global recession which affected leisure travel”, the firm’s performance had been adversely affected, so said the joint statement issued.

Why it was done: Insiders say there had been pressure on BBC to focus single-mindedly on TV and radio. The deal is part of its strategy to concentrate on its core brands. Something like a “Video killed the radio star” situation.

What It Means

The sad part: Lonely Planet would no longer enjoy the brand value addition of BBC. But NC2 Media is being touted (by the BBC guys who made the sale) as a buyer that would lead the brand to greater success.

The good part: So, basically, beyond all the business jargon, Lonely Planet just switched hands. Hopefully, the content and reach would remain the same, rather improve. The focus will now shift on to the new-age digital from the old-world print system, which makes sense in the face of increasing competition from the hordes of online travel sites.

And yeah, probably, the colours of the logo might change, as is the case with all business acquisitions (BBC didn’t do it when it acquired LP, but then, who knows NC2 might turn out to be a little more colourful, eh?)