Guardian Media chief executive eyes Emap group

The chief executive of Britain's Guardian Media Group said on Monday the company was keen to buy business-to-business assets, but would not confirm whether she has put forward a bid for media group Emap.
Emap has attracted private equity and trade buyer interest in its business-to-business (B2B) and consumer magazines, exhibitions and radio assets with initial bids due in last week.
Guardian Media Group Chief Executive Carolyn McCall, who has previously said her company was interested in Emap, told Reuters in an interview that buying B2B assets would help reduce the group's reliance on classified advertising.
"I think B2B is something that we would always look at and Emap is no exception," she said, adding that software technology for the media sector was another interesting acquisition area. McCall's comments come a few weeks before GMG launches a US-focused news and commentary Web site in the United States.
McCall said her senior management had done a lot of work in recent months on acquisitions strategy and there were a number of media models the London-based group was interested in.
"My aim and the group board's aim is to further diversify our portfolio away from classifieds and the UK economy." Privately-run Guardian Media Group is owned by the Scott Trust, which was created in 1936 to make sure the Guardian's journalism stays financially and editorially independent.
The company owns the Guardian and Observer newspapers as well as regional newspapers, radio stations and classified advertising via its 50.1 percent stake in Trader Media Group.
Moves into B2B over the past year included the acquisitions of Vebra, a software provider for estate agents and Kable, a public sector research and exhibitions company. GMG raised 675 million pounds ($1.4 billion) this year after it sold its 49.9 percent stake in Trader Media Group to Apax Partners. The business is GMG's classified advertising arm.
Recent newspaper reports said GMG was looking to launch a joint bid for Emap with the private equity group. GMG is often cited as a potential predator, but with no debt, the money raised from selling its Trader Media stake and no public listing responsibility, McCall feels no need to rush.