Salon QP and QP Magazine have been sold by Telegraph Media Group to Hearst UK.
The deal is part of a wider acquisition of assets by Hearst, which also includes Telegraph Events’ Be:FIT fitness and wellbeing festival for women.
Salon QP is an exhibition that brings together fine watchmakers, collectors and connoisseurs for an annual gathering in November each year.
QP Magazine is now published four times per year in print form, and has been developing as a digital resource for watch collectors in recent years.
The exhibition will become part of Hearst Live, which last year ran over 100 events. It is a growth area of Hearst UK, increasing the size of its team by 30% in 2017.
Hearst UK has a stated aim to increase its engagement with the watch industry and was the headline sponsor of last year’s WatchPro Awards.
Commenting on the acquisition of QP and Be:FIT, Victoria Archbold, managing director of events and sponsorship at Hearst Live, said: “This deal plays to the strengths of our brands and is a perfect fit for our publishing and events business. We are seeing unprecedented growth in experiential events – our attendance levels doubled last year primarily because our consumers are so engaged in our brands and those we choose to work with.
“From a commercial perspective, we have created successful collaborations with a number of like-minded brands that have delivered a great return on investment. Expanding our events portfolio will enable us to create more of these brand partnership platforms.”
