BusinessWeek On The Block?

McGraw-Hill has decided to put BusinessWeek up for sale, Bloomberg is reporting today, citing a “person close to the situation.”

According to the report, McGraw-Hill has hired investment bank Evercore Partners to sell the business magazine, which saw a 34.3 percent drop in advertising pages during the first half of 2009.

The magazine currently has about 190 editorial staff and boasts about 4.8 million readers weekly in 140 countries, according to Bloomberg. Could this sale mark the end of the print version of BusinessWeek or a new beginning?

Update: McGraw-Hill has confirmed that it is “exploring strategic options,” for the magazine, and BusinessWeek‘s own media reporter, Jon Fine, has written a thoughtful piece on his employer’s future. “In truth, given the dynamics of the publishing and magazine sectors I would expect a buyer would come from an unexpected perch: a cash-rich investment fund seeking entry to the media world and a platform for future acquisitions, or a deep-pocketed mogul type whose ambitions are not yet known to the wider world,” Fine surmised.

If you know anything about the sale let us know.

Launch a social media campaign that will build your brand and deliver results in our online Social Media Marketing Boot Camp starting June 7. Speakers include Abigail Cusick (Bravo Digital), Gregory Galant (Sawhorse Media), Alex Leo (Thomson Reuters Digital), Jim Tobin (Ignite Social Media), and many more. Read the reviews.