Parker sells Wine Advocate stake for $15m

US wine critic Robert Parker sold the major stake in The Wine Advocate to Singapore-based investors for US$15 million, according to a newspaper report.

Robert Parker

AFP reports that Singapore’s Straits Times spoke to potential investors invited to take part in a deal brokered by bankers in the city-state.

Parker has yet to release financial details of the deal.

As reported on db.com, on Monday Parker went public with the news that he was stepping down as editor-in-chief of the title, having sold a “substantial interest” in the company to new investors.

“We will not comment further than that which has already posted,” a spokeswoman for The Wine Advocate told AFP.

Earlier this week, the Wall Street Journal report that Parker would be phasing out the print edition of the bi-monthly newsletter, though Parker took to Twitter to confirm that this was not the case.

“There are no plans to eliminate the print edition,” he said.

Rather, subscribers will be offered a printable pdf version, with a Kindle edition also in the pipeline. Largely based in the US, subscribers currently pay US$75 a year for six issues.

The company’s headquarters will remain in Maryland, though a new office in Singapore is due to open soon where newly appointed editor-in-chief, Lisa Perrotti-Brown MW, will be based.

“We can more easily serve Asian countries from Singapore,” said Parker.