It was an intriguing question that one shareholder posed at the extraordinary general meeting held in London to decide whether the Emap's consumer magazines, which include Heat, FHM and Grazia, and radio division, where stations include Kiss, Magic 105.4 and Smash Hits, should be sold to German publisher Bauer.

Was it poor management lacking a focused strategy for the Peterborough born and bred publishing empire, or was it a lack of patience by the city's big investors eager for what they perceive as a proper return on their investment?

Both answers have been given to the conundrum and, as always, the answer is probably a bit of both.

Read more:
Feature: Emap: Story of the city publishing giant 1947 - 2008
The story of city publishing giant Emap and its sale to German publisher Bauer in January 2008.
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Current chairman Alun Cathcart is admanant that the city did for the company. He points to the millions of pounds that were invested in the company over the last five years and says the city simply did not see the value in the firm that others did.

Sir David Arculus, who was managing director until 1997, and was the chosen candidate as a replacement chairman by rebel shareholders just four months ago, says the turbulence on the stock market has made the big investors flee for safety and pocket what they can now.

But, he adds that the firm's management has hardly instilled confidence in investors.

There is no escaping the fact that a brief look at the history of Emap, especially since the turn of the century, shows a confusing picture.

It is one of purchases and sales, of ventures overseas – particularly to America – and then retreat. Chief executives have come and gone. Tellingly, Emap still does not have a chief executive since the departure of Tom Moloney last May.

Profits fell 16 per cent last year. Even on the eve of last Friday's extraordinary meeting of shareholders, Emap could only give a mixed message to investors.

In a trading update, Emap announced that, while its business-to business revenues in the third quarter rose by 14 per cent on the back of strong performances from the events and information products arm, the consumer magazines business saw a nine per cent fall in revenues, and the company warned trading for the rest of the year would remain challenging.

Overall, it is not a good record for instilling investors with confidence.

In truth, the 700 Emap workers in Peterborough can probably look forward with confidence to the arrival of Bauer.

Bauer is a private family-run firm with a good track record in magazine publishing. There is no doubt that there are tough times ahead – if families are worrying about the household budget there will be little cash to spare on magazines.

But at least Bauer's management will be able to get on with running the business without having to look over their shoulders to see if the investors are getting restless.