Terms of the acquisition were not announced.

According to Ian Atkins, MD of Europe, there will be no immediate changes: "Business as usual is a phrase we're using a lot, " he told BB.

The two companies were always going to be sold, said Atkins. "They were started by venture capital companies and we always expected the business to be sold. It was just a question of when."

Trader Publishing is a huge company that publishes 700 print magazines including Boat Trader, Yacht Trader and the US marine trade magazine, Soundings, and also has extensive Internet interests. The new acquisitions will fit into the group's Trader Electronic Media, one of five divisions of Trader, operating 35 websites promoting marine, automobiles, homes, apartments, RVs, planes, hotels, employment and parenting.

Atkins sees a sound future for the two websites. "They have products that compete with ours - Boat Trader Online and the print magazines - and the idea is to accelerate the growth of all the businesses by sitting them side by side."

The two companies will continue to be run by the existing management team - minus Paul Rabe, who decided not to join the new company.

The management team of four is Atkins, Jessica Muffett, Eric Munday and Jorge Bracer.

They will report to Nick Petsos, general manager of TraderOnLine. com "The deal will add resources to our business and enable us to increase the number of products and services we offer the industry, " said Atkins. "We expect to accelerate our growth."