Oakley Capital Buys Time Out New York

Six months after snagging Time Out’s London business, Oakley Capital has acquired a majority stake in the publisher’s New York business, paying 14.2 million pounds ($23 million), Reuters reported. In November, Oakley Capital had bought a 50% stake in Time Out London, the official travel guide for the 2012 Olympics, for 11.3 million pounds, Reuters wrote. It now owns 65.7% of the New York business, and plans to expand the company’s reach to 50 cities.

(Reuters) – Six months after buying half of Time Out’s London business, Investment firm Oakley Capital added another chapter by acquiring a controlling stake in the magazine and travel publisher’s New York business for 14.2 million ($23 million).

The move allows Oakley to cash in on Time Out’s online market and control worldwide rights to the brand in U.S. (excluding Chicago), Canada, Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean.

In November, Oakley Capital had bought a 50 percent stake in Time Out London, the official travel guide for the 2012 Olympics, for 11.3 million pounds. It acquired 65.7 percent in Time Out New York on Friday with plans to expand the group’s reach to 50 cities.

The Clark Estates, that founded the Singer sewing machine, and the Louis-Dreyfus Family funded 5.1 million for the current investment, the company said in a statement. The rest was invested by the company’s fund, Oakley Capital Private Equity LP.

Tony Elliot, founder of the Time Out Group, who established the New York unit in 1995, is said to have been looking for an investor and had injected 3 million of his own money to repay the company’s debt.

Time Out New York magazine had recently started delivering content on its web sites, and Oakley had announced plans in November to support its digital platform.

Shares of AIM-listed Oakley have gained 17 percent since the company bought a 50 percent stake in Time Out London.

($1 = 0.616 British Pounds)

(Reporting by Juhi Arora in Bangalore; Editing by Kavita Chandran)