Sept. 8 (Bloomberg) -- BusinessWeek magazine has generated interest from 93 potential buyers, McGraw-Hill Cos. Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Terry McGraw said.

“Everybody’s involved,” McGraw, 61, told Bloomberg Television today. “There’s a lot of interest.” Parties include private equity, hedge funds and strategic buyers, said McGraw, whose New York-based company owns the weekly. He didn’t name any suitors.

The recession and online competition have curbed advertising sales at BusinessWeek and its rivals. McGraw- Hill has said it is exploring options for the magazine after overhauling its education division and the Standard & Poor’s credit-ratings unit.

BusinessWeek’s ad sales fell 33 percent in the first half from a year earlier, to $77.8 million, according to the Publishers Information Bureau. That compares with a 21 percent drop industrywide.

In the information and media group, which also includes Aviation Week and energy information provider Platts, second- quarter revenue fell 11.5 percent to $236.2 million, compared with a 12.4 percent sales drop for the entire company.

McGraw-Hill cut its 2009 revenue forecast in July, citing a weakening market for advertising and school textbooks. Sales this year will fall as much as 6.5 percent, the company said after earlier predicting a maximum decline 5 percent.

McGraw-Hill fell $2.10, or 7.2 percent, to $27 at 6:40 p.m. New York time. The shares have climbed 16 percent this year in New York Stock Exchange composite trading.

To contact the reporters on this story: Caroline Salas in New York at csalas1@bloomberg.net; Lauren Coleman-Lochner in New York at llochner@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: September 8, 2009 19:49 EDT