Debrett's Limited
2�Dec�2004
Acquisition of Debrett's
SPG Media Group has sold Debretts, which publishes a 200-year-old authority on the UK�s aristocracy and matters of etiquette, to Devonshire Media for around �1 million.
Steve Nicholson, SPG�s chairman, said: "Debretts presents its new owners with an outstanding opportunity to build a leading UK publishing business and we wish the new owners and staff success in the future."
SPG will use the proceeds of the sale to invest in its core operations and to develop the group.
Devonshire was formed by Conrad Free, founder of P Four Consultancy, David Tennant, a former Thomson director, and Burke�s Peerage editor-in-chief Charles Mosley.
The reference book began in 1769 when John Debrett published the New Peerage, the Present State of the Nobility in England, Scotland and Ireland and is now published as Peerage & Baronetage.
Source: M&A February 2005 issue
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