Worldlex Wiki In 1987, part of the comics holdings of IPC Magazines Ltd (comprising those comics and characters created after 1 January 1970, plus 26 specified characters from Buster, which was then still being published) were placed in a separate company, Fleetway Publications, which was sold to Pergamon Holdings.
In 1991, Egmont UK purchased Fleetway from Pergamon, merging it with their own comics publishing operation, London Editions, to form Fleetway Editions. The latter was absorbed into the main Egmont brand by 2000, having sold off the continuing titles (such as 2000 AD), and continued with only reprint and licensed titles (e.g. Sonic The Comic).
IPC had retained the other comics characters and titles, i.e. those created before 1970 (except the 26 characters from Buster), including Sexton Blake, The Steel Claw, and Battler Britton. One character, Dan Dare, was sold separately and is currently owned by the Dan Dare Corporation. In 2016 and 2018, Egmont sold its remaining library of IPC/Fleetway to Rebellion Developments, who had previously acquired 2000 AD in 2000.
Time Inc. takeover
In 1998, IPC Magazines Ltd was subject to a management buyout financed by Cinven, a venture capital group, and the company was renamed IPC Media. Cinven then sold the company to Time Inc., then the magazine publishing subsidiary of Time Warner (now Warner Bros. Discovery), in 2001. In January 2009, Evelyn Webster became the company's chief executive, replacing Sylvia Auton who had run it since 2001
IPC Media formally became Time Inc. UK in September 2014, creating a single Time Inc. brand in both the US and UK.
In April 2012, IPC Media won an award for Best Production Team of the Year at the Professional Publishers Association Production and Environment Awards 2012.
2018 sale to Epiris
On 26 February 2018, Meredith Corporation, who had completed its purchase of Time Inc. almost a month earlier, announced it was selling Time Inc. UK to a fund associated with British private equity firm 2020 acquisition by Future