Mark Allen Group (MAG) has announced its intention to acquire one of the prized jewels in publishing, the 85-year old weekly Farmers Weekly.

Reed Business Information Ltd (RBI), part of RELX, has agreed to sell the brand to MA Agriculture, a new company created by MAG to house Farmers Weekly.

The portfolio includes leading magazine brand Farmers Weekly, community website and online trading platforms on FWi.com, a growing events portfolio including the market leading industry Farmers Weekly Awards, newsletters and social media platforms supporting these publishing activities.

Farmers Weekly, the leading voice in farming, has been at the heart of the British farming industry since its launch in 1934. Today it has a circulation of nearly 42,000, with more than 26,000 subscribers.

RELX is a global provider of information-based analytics and decision tools for professional and business customers. This transaction does not include the agricultural connectivity, workflow, data and analytics business Proagrica, and reflects RELX’s continuing strategic priority of focusing on its data and analytics business.

MAG, which employs 434 staff, has been rapidly expanding over the past decade. It currently boasts 100 magazines in 12 different sectors and organises up to 250 events, exhibitions and awards every year.

It has a turnover of £51 million and an EBITDA of £8.5 million. This will be its third acquisition in the past 12 months. In 2019 MAG acquired 12 magazines, mainly in aviation and auto, from UKi Media and Events, as well as The Engineer and its Subcon exhibition from Centaur Media.

Farmers Weekly will continue to be based at its Sutton offices, with 54 members of its staff transferring under TUPE.

The senior management team of publishing director and editor in chief Karl Schneider, sales director Dan Smith, marketing director Tony Hill and head of product Ed Morgan will all be joining the board of MA Agriculture.