Boat International, a publisher of  luxury yacht magazines, has been bought by its management for £29 million in a deal backed by August Equity. The buy-out team, led by chief executive Tony Harris, invested in the deal alongside £13.4 million from the private equity firm.

Boat International, a publisher of luxury yacht magazines, has been bought by its management for £29 million in a deal backed by August Equity. The buy-out team, led by chief executive Tony Harris, invested in the deal alongside £13.4 million from the private equity firm.

The deal also included debt from Lloyds TSB Corporate Markets, which declined to confirm the amount it provided.

Boat International was sold via funds managed by Henderson Private Capital more than two years after it bought the group from publisher Christian Chalmin.

The group’s magazines are published in the UK, Europe, Russia and the US, with Boat International, first published in 1983, its flagship publication.

The Surrey-based group also has offices in France, Germany and the US.

August Equity’s previous deals in the publishing sector include investments in Incisive Media, Octopus and Timothy Benn Publishing.