Production firm behind Hitchhiker's Guide bought by UBC Media

The radio production company behind BBC Radio 4's Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy has been bought by Aim-listed UBC Media. Above The Title joins UBC Media's stable of production companies which also includes Unique (BBC Radio 3's Jazz Library, Radio 4's Something Understood), Smooth Operations, which makes the Mark Radcliffe & Stuart Maconie Show for BBC Radio 2, and marketing business Lynx Content, which it bought in August last year. UBC Media has paid an initial £85,000 in cash, plus a further sum based on operating profit over the next two years payable in a mixture of cash and shares up to a maximum of £1m. Above The Title owns the rights to Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series of books, which it resurrected for Radio 4 six years ago . The company's other credits include Unreliable Evidence, presented by Clive Anderson for Radio 4, Radio 2 comedy On The Blog and new Radio 4 drama Final Demands, starring Alistair McGowan, Stephen Mangan and Tom Conti. Above The Title had a turnover of £772,000 in the year to 30 September 2009, and produced a gross profit of £260,000. It had net assets of £43,000. UBC Media said it would operate the company separately from its other production companies but would "take advantage of synergies in areas of business infrastructure". Simon Cole, UBC Media chief executive, said: "Above The Title represents a very complimentary addition to our growing stable of production companies and is an important step in our strategy of consolidating the content production marketplace. "The business' current production order book from the BBC and other content publishers is very strong." UBC Media, the largest independent producer of radio programmes for the BBC, last year sold its commercial division , which supplied traffic information to 230 UK radio stations, to America's Global Traffic Network. The company previously owned digital radio station OneWord and was a shareholder in Channel 4's ill-fated digital radio venture, 4 Digital . Software division Unique Interactive specialises in digital radio text and data services and the company is part of the MXR Digital Radio Multiplex consortium. • To contact the MediaGuardian news desk email [email protected] or phone 020 3353 3857. For all other inquiries please call the main Guardian switchboard on 020 3353 2000. • If you are writing a comment for publication, please mark clearly "for publication".