BBC Worldwide Collection International to form 2 Entertain, which was part owned by BBC Worldwide; the following year the company sold "Eve" magazine to Haymarket Group and in 2006 the company sold a majority stake in BBC Books to publisher Random House. In 2007 BBC Worldwide purchased a 75% stake in the travel guide publisher Lonely Planet, acquiring the final 25% of the company in 2011. The acquisition was part of the BBC's strategy to grow its online portfolio and to increase its operations in Australia and the USA. In January 2009 it was announced that Ofcom had put forward the recommendation
BBC Worldwide £1,085m in the previous financial year. BBC Worldwide's profit rate was 11.2% in 2011/2012, up slightly from 9.6% the previous year, down from a peak of 21.5% in 2002/2003, contrasting with 7.8% in 2003/2004. The company merged with BBC Studios on 1 April 2018, to form a new licensing and production company under the BBC Studios name. In addition to broadcasting, the BBC has for much of its life also produced additional materials for sale, the profits of which would be returned to the corporation to aid in the financing of these services. The highest profile of these early products