Informa Group takes on Boat International Media
Boat International Media (BIM) has been taken over by Informa Group. The latter is an event, digital service and academic research group which also has some media brands in its stable.
In terms of management at BIM, Stewart Campbell will remain editor-in-chief and BIM will have the same team, including Toby Moore as chief executive and Tony Euden as chief operating officer. John Paton will also continue as chair of the board.
“We are excited to start working with Informa. We share a vision and enormous optimism about Boat International Media’s future, which will benefit from Informa’s experience and investment in specialist media brands and platforms,” says Moore.
BIM also owns Boat Pro, and organises events like the World Superyacht Awards and Superyacht Design Festival as well as producing books such as The Superyachts and Superyacht Interiors.
“Informa has been an admirer of Boat International’s products and events for some years and is a big supporter of the company’s growth strategy. Boat will stay Boat and, with the full support of the Informa Group expertise and resources behind it, the future is very bright indeed,” Moore continues.
A statement says that BIM and its subsidiaries, including IBI and Dockwalk, will retain their brands and full editorial independence.
This is not the first time that IBI has changed stable. Its chequered history includes being bought by BIM in December 2021 after an employee buyout in 2017. The latter saw the management team negotiate an asset purchase through its company, Boating Communications Ltd, which was accepted by then owner Time Inc. UK.
At that time, publisher Nick Hopkinson told media that: “Being part of large multinational corporations in the past hasn’t always been in IBI’s best interest, so it’s good to return to our roots as an independent publisher.”
Hopkinson helped launch IBI in 1968 and was the sole proprietor of the publication for several years.