MEDIA group Chrysalis is to sell its books division so it can focus on music and radio stations such as Heart and Galaxy.

Chrysalis is in exclusive talks with managers of the books division over a buyout worth £12.5 million.

Executives are keen to sell because the business has performed poorly over the past year, and racked up costs when laying off around 40 staff during the summer.

The decision was also taken as Chrysalis battled to resolve problems at its two main divisions.

There was a decline in radio revenues, as advertisers spent less on promoting their products over the airwaves.

At the same time, there was a sharp drop in demand for albums on the Echo record label which forced the company to cut the number of artists on its book.