Confirmed: AMG buys out Eastern Eye

As revealed on BizAsia.co.uk last night, Eastern Eye has been sold to rival publishers Asian Media & Marketing Group (AMG) for an undisclosed price.

AMG, established in 1968, are the owners of successful publications like Garavi Gujarat, GG2 Life magazine, Asian Trader, Asian Hospitality, amongst others.

The group confirmed to BizAsia.co.uk that the acquisition included Eastern Eye�۪s supplements the Asian Rich List, the websites www.easterneyeonline.co.uk, the recruitment site www.jobsbuster.com and the events business which includes the prestigious Asian Business Awards.

Kalpesh Solanki, Group Managing Editor of Asian Media & Marketing Group, said: “We are delighted to buy this iconic brand. We are firmly committed to building and investing in Eastern Eye and its associated assets. We believe this acquisition will strengthen our reach into the Asian community and we look forward to growing this market leading title.”

It was reported yesterday that Eastern Eye had fallen under administration due to heavy losses made by its sister paper New Nation (targeted to the African-Caribbean market). According to data from Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC), New Nation had sold an average of 22,081 copies of each issue in the last six months of 2005. Currently paper sales were around 6,000 per issue.

Speaking to BizAsia.co.uk earlier, Hamant Verma, Editor of Eastern Eye said, “Now that Eastern Eye will no longer have to sustain New Nation, it may finally get the resources to fulfill its potential.”

He was also optimistic about the new company taking over the popular paper, “Like all good Asian families, the Solankis have saved during the good times, so they can gain a bargain like Eastern Eye in the bad economic times. Eastern Eye is fundamentally a good product, which is why it has a buyer when many other papers do not.”

It is not yet known how the new buyout will affect jobs at Eastern Eye and if there will be any changes in editorial.