Mediaquest poised to buy ailing Dubai publisher

Troubled Dubai publishing house The Media Factory (TMF) is understood to be in talks to be bought out by rival publisher Mediaquest, a source close to the deal told Arabian Business on Tuesday.
 
“Talks are going on, (they) are negotiating over the price. If the deal goes ahead it won’t be for a month or so,” the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said.
 
He declined to comment on Mediaquest’s valuation of TMF.
 
Mediaquest was interested primarily in the business title brands TMF had developed, he said. TMF’s business magazines comprise insurance title Policy, legal title The Brief and business title .Commerce. The latter is endorsed by the Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
 
“They are nice brands and are worth something. But a fair price has to be agreed,” he said.

However, when approached for comment, TMF Director Russell Frame flatly denied negotiations were taking place. “I can tell you 100 percent negotiations between TMF and Mediaquest are not taking place,” he said.
 
TMF has in recent months laid off many of its staff following the loss of lucrative flagship title Oryx, the inflight magazine for Qatar Airways, after the airline decided to cease its more than four year relationship with the company.
 
Over the last three years TMF has lost contracts for, or ceased printing, many of its magazines, including Thai Airways inflight magazine Sawasdee, football magazine Four Four Two, and contract titles published on behalf of Emaar, Etisalat, the Kempinski hotel chain and the UAE’s Roads and Transport Authority.
 
In addition to its business magazines, the list of titles currently published by TMF includes Autocar, F1 Racing, Dubai Mall magazine and Airleron, an inflight magazine for private jets.  
 
According its website, Mediaquest publishes Communicate magazine, Gulf Marketing Review, Trends magazine and the Kipp Report website.