"It is still a profitable magazine, this has not been driven by decline, it is driven by opportunity. "This is not driven by private equity, it is something that has been looked at over a good amount of years on and off," said Arthur. The deal was reported at the time to have valued the title at £20m, including £10m debt. He also denied that the decision has been forced on the magazine by Oakley Capital, the private equity firm run by Peter Dubens that bought 50% of the business from Elliott in 2010. Tim Arthur, editor-in-chief of Time Out UK, said becoming free in London was not prompted by ailing sales and that the title was profitable. The London Evening Standard also made a successful switch from paid-for to free distribution nearly three years ago. The men's title Shortlist and women's counterpart Stylist, both distributed free in London and other big UK cities, have been two of the most successful consumer magazine launches of recent years. Some publishers are responding with free titles of their own. The move highlights the changing nature of the publishing business, with most paid-for newspapers and magazines seeing circulation fall as readers look online for free news, reviews and listings information. The title, which began life in 1968 with a print run of 5,000, will boost circulation to 300,000 in the hopes of increasing the amount charged for advertising space to counter the loss of cover-price revenues.
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