From The Times.

Patrick Foster, Media Correspondent

The BBC was today ordered by its internal regulator to rein in the activities of BBC Worldwide, its commercial arm, after competitors complained that the corporation’s huge financial muscle was giving it an unfair advantage.
Presenting a report on the commercial activites of the corporation, Sir Michael Lyons, chairman of the BBC Trust, said Worldwide would be banned from mergers and acquisitions, apart from in exceptional circumstances, and would be forced to sell off any of its operations that were not “in keeping with the BBC brand”.
The corporation has been heavily criticised for its 2007 acquisition of Lonely Planet, the guidebook publisher, for £90 million, with rivals claiming it was entering a market that had little relation to the corporation’s core purposes.
Although the report stopped short of ordering Worldwide, which has a turnover in excess of £1 billion, to sell the publisher, Sir Michael said: “The trust would not expect to consider a commercial deal of the scale and nature of the Lonely Planet acquisition in future.”

The trust ordered that Worldwide should become a “more internationally facing business” that would undertake fewer activities in the UK, where the recession has accentuated its size and strength compared to other commercial rivals.
The review also ordered Worldwide to sell off its stakes in non-BBC branded international channels, such as Animal Planet, if it could secure a good return.
Sir Michael said: “Worldwide is a successful business which brings both significant financial benefits for the licence fee payer and a tangible boost to the creative economy. But the trust and the executive both acknowledge that the boundaries for Worldwide activity need to be clearer.
“Our commercial operations are not exempt from the BBC’s public mission. They must keep the public purposes at their heart, engaging carefully with markets globally to help ‘bring the UK to the world and the world to the UK’, whilst protecting and promoting the BBC’s brand and reputation.
“We’re satisfied that these changes will provide much-needed clarity and a greater alignment with the BBC’s public purposes, without stifling Worldwide’s ability to perform as a thriving and profitable entity.”

Source:-

http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/tv_and_radio/a...