Disappointed bidders for Emap’s consumer titles are hoping that magazines such as Trout & Salmon may be cast over the side of H Bauer Verlag’s boat after the publisher of Bella and Take A Break won them via an extended auction process.

The Hamburg-based and family-owned publisher paid £718m for a portfolio that includes mass-market titles similar to its own UK and German brands, such as Grazia and Heat, but also niche magazines the likes of Angling Times and Architectural Review.