Damning report puts final BBC Lonely Planet losses at £100m
A damning internal report into BBC Worldwide’s disastrous decision to purchase the Lonely Planet travel guide business has revealed that the move cost the firm £100m.
The full scale of the losses came to light after the BBC’s governing body mounted an inquiry into the affair.
In their scathing report BBC Worldwide are accused of getting ‘carried away’ with ‘highly optimistic’ plans to buy the ailing brand for £132m six years ago, investing a further £20m trying to turn it around before ultimately being forced to sell the business at a huge loss earlier this year for £52m.
The report said: “‘[BBC Worldwide] seemed to get carried away with the deal momentum and there should have been an effective mechanism in place to ensure that it did not end up over-paying.
“Not enough downside analysis was done of the potential impact of a faster decline in books and of not achieving the very optimistic online forecasts.”