BusinessWeek magazine sold to Bloomberg LP

BusinessWeek, once one of the most robust and respected -- if conservative -- magazines in the U.S. has been sold to Bloomberg L.P. by parent McGraw-Hill Companies. According to a story in Folio:, the deal includes the 80-year-old title, its website BusinessWeek.com, an online news and information service, SmallBiz magazine and an event and show arm BusinessWeek Events.

McGraw-Hill chairman, president and CEO Harold McGraw III called BusinessWeek a “truly outstanding franchise and the best source of business reporting in the world.” "We are pleased that we have reached an agreement for BusinessWeek to be acquired by Bloomberg, which shares the same high standards for editorial independence, integrity and excellence that have long defined BusinessWeek,” he said.

The terms of the deal weren't released, but one of BusinessWeek's own writers, citing knowledgeable sources, said the offer was between $2 million and $5 million in cash, plus assumed liabilities.

The magazine was put up for sale after a recent, precipitous fall in revenue, largely because of the recession; through the first quarter, it lost almost 35% of its ad pages.