50 Best Restaurants List Announces Acquisition Of 50 Best Bars List

This morning, the two UK-based lists that annually name the world's best restaurants and the world's best bars united into one super-list. William Reed purchased the World's 50 Best Bars awards, which were just announced last month (we carried the results here), with NYC's Dead Rabbit taking the top spot. The World's 50 Best Restaurants has become a sought-after prize for chefs eager to join the ranks of Rene Redzepi (Noma), Ferran Adria (elBulli) and Massimo Bottura, whose Osteria Francescana in Modena, Italy, earned the distinction this year. The full release from William Reed, the company that purchased the bars list from Agile Media, is below:

"William Reed is pleased to announce that it has taken on the ownership and running of The World's 50 Best Bars awards from Agile Media. Over the last eight years, the two media owners have worked closely in developing the concept. Agile Media's market-leading title, Drinks International, has been the ideal nursery for the bars version of the 50 Best brand, and now The World's 50 Best Bars will be closely aligned with The World's 50 Best Restaurants to maximise International growth and synergies between the two. Drinks International will still be engaged with The World's 50 Best Bars as exclusive trade media partner, producing the results magazine handed out on the night for  The World's 50 Best Bars and offshoots such as Asia's 50 Best Bars."

"This is an exciting next step for The World's 50 Best Bars. It is already the most prestigious and recognised awards in the bar industry. Working in close association with The World's 50 Best Restaurants brand and team, we aim to take the awards to an even higher level of consumer and trade recognition, which will be an enormous benefit for the bars featured, our sponsors and for the bar sector overall." —Charles Reed, Group Managing Director of William Reed

"It's with pride that we pass over the reins of The World's 50 Best Bars to our friends at William Reed. We have created a brand with integrity and global traction that will continue to thrive under its new management." —Hamish Smith from Drinks International