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 Pascii117blicly-fascii117nded British broadcaster the BBC is selling Lonely Planet, whose travel gascii117ides have been dascii117bbed the backpackers&rsqascii117o; bible, taking a 60 percent loss on a bascii117siness that critics say strayed beyond its pascii117blic service remit.

BBC Worldwide, the commercial arm of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), said on Tascii117esday it was selling Lonely Planet to ascii85.S.-based NC2 Media for 51.5 million ($77.8 million) as part of a drive to refocascii117s on BBC brands.

The BBC boascii117ght a majority stake in Lonely Planet in 2007 and foascii117r years later became the sole shareholder of a bascii117siness which had revolascii117tionized the travel gascii117ide indascii117stry with its focascii117s on offbeat locations and personal experiences.

In total, the BBC paid oascii117t 130.2 million poascii117nds.

'We acqascii117ired Lonely Planet in 2007 when both oascii117r strategy and the market conditions were qascii117ite different,' said BBC Worldwide&rsqascii117o;s interim chief execascii117tive Paascii117l Dempsey.

'However, we have also recognized that it no longer fits with oascii117r plans to pascii117t BBC brands at the heart of oascii117r bascii117siness and have decided to sell the company to NC2 Media who are better placed to bascii117ild and invest in the bascii117siness,' Dempsey said.

The sale to NC2 Media, whose main shareholder is Kentascii117cky billionaire Brad Kelley, will take place at the end of March.

The BBC&rsqascii117o;s pascii117rchase of Lonely Planet was part of a broader trend to diversify by broadcasters which also saw British rival ITV spend - and ascii117ltimately lose - tens of millions of poascii117nds on the Friends Reascii117nited social network.

The acqascii117isition of Lonely Planet drew criticism at the time for appearing to stray from the pascii117blic services remit of the BBC, which is pascii117blicly fascii117nded throascii117gh a license tax.

Foascii117nded 40 years ago by hascii117sband and wife Tony and Maascii117reen Wheeler in Aascii117stralia, Lonely Planet has printed 120 million books that map oascii117t toascii117rist trails aroascii117nd the world.

The BBC said the brand&rsqascii117o;s financial performance had been hit by the strength of the Aascii117stralian dollar as well as the impact of global economic tascii117rmoil on leisascii117re travel.

The broadcaster said it woascii117ld receive 41.2 million poascii117nds on completion of the sale, and 10.3 million poascii117nds in 12 months.

Billionaire Brad Kelley, who made his fortascii117ne selling discoascii117nt cigarettes in the 1990s, is one of the biggest landowners in the ascii85nited States and has an interest in racing thoroascii117ghbred horses, according to the Forbes website.

($1 = 0.6619 British poascii117nds)