BBC buys Lonely Planet

Lonely Planet is known for its guidebooks which are carried by backpackers in some of the most remote places on the planet. The company boasts having a guidebook for every country in the world. But it seems the backpacking hippy image may be about to change as the BBC announced today that they have purchased the publishing company. The champions of solo travel have apparently decided that sometimes you don’t have to go it along in the corporate world.

The commercial arm of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) has acquired Lonely Planet, the travel information group founded in Australia in 1972, for an undisclosed sum.

Lonely Planet, which is famous for its international travel guides, is being sold to BBC Worldwide by founders Tony and Maureen Wheeler, and advertising magnate John Singleton who became a shareholder in 1999.

The Wheelers will retain a 25 per cent shareholding in the company.