Future plc acquires Cycling News and Procycling

February 19, 2019 — Fusion DigiNet

Future plcFuture plc has acquired two specialist consumer brands from Immediate Media: Co – CyclingNews.com and Procycling Magazine. The terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Launched in 1995, Cycling News has a brand reach of over 3.3 million and is, says Future, the world’s biggest pro-cycling website. Procycling launched in 1999 and publishes 13 print issues annually.

Future says it is dedicated to building specialist brands and that Cyclingnews and Procycling perfectly complement its consumer hobbies portfolio. According to Future, the cycling market is set to grow from £2.6bn to over £3bn by 2020. Public interest in professional cycling in the UK has grown during the past decade, buoyed by the success of Team GB and Team Sky during this period. With each of the Grand Tours of 2018 being won by British riders, the emerging success of Geraint Thomas and Simon Yates has further driven interest and enthusiasm for cycling within the UK. This has also been reflected in a good underlying trend in the UK cycling retail market, which has seen strong growth over this period and is forecast to continue to grow towards £3.0bn by 2020.

Zillah Byng-Thorne, CEO of Future, said, “The acquisition of these brands will expand our presence in the sport and outdoor leisure vertical and is a clear demonstration of our strategy to leverage enduring content on our technology platform to further diversify our revenue streams. Cycling News and Procycling are respected brands with leading market positions that will complement our existing portfolio whilst extending our reach into new adjacent communities. These brands are leading worldwide voices on professional cycling, offering analysis, insight, gorgeous photography and exclusive interviews with the industry greats.

“We have a proven methodology and track record of integration and we are confident that this deal will drive further growth in operating profitability and cash generation. You may remember that these brands were originally published by Future before we sold them to Immediate in 2014. Buying them back is a special moment for us to honour a piece of our heritage and a fantastic opportunity to expand our portfolio into the world of cycling.”

UK, London

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Bauer to acquire Wireless Local Stations

February 14, 2019 — Fusion DigiNet

Bauer Media GroupBauer Media Group is to acquire Wireless local stations across England and Wales. Wireless is made up of fifteen licences across Lancashire, Cheshire, Shropshire, Derbyshire, West Yorkshire, Staffordshire and South Wales. The terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Paul Keenan, CEO of Bauer Media and European Radio, commented, “We are delighted with our acquisition of Wireless local licences. This group of established, successful stations complements our existing portfolio and extends our reach and local advertising offer to new areas of the UK.”

Wireless local stations, with a weekly reach of 850,000 listeners, build on Bauer’s previous successful acquisitions of Celador Radio and Lincs FM Group.

He added, “The Wireless local stations acquisition further underlines our belief in the UK and in radio. Outstanding content and growing audiences have driven three years of consecutive records for UK radio ad revenue. As the medium grows ever-more digital and adapts to new listening devices the opportunity expands to offer new and interesting services for listeners and advertisers. It’s a very exciting time to be in the audio business.”

UK, London & Germany, Hamburg

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New Media to acquire Schurz Communications’ newspapers for $30.0M

January 29, 2019 — Fusion DigiNet

New Media Investment GroupNew Media Investment Group Inc., one of the largest publishers of locally based print and online media in the United States as measured by number of publications, has agreed to acquire the newspapers and related assets of Schurz Communications, Inc. for $30.0 million.

Schurz is selling ten daily newspapers, which include the highly attractive college towns of South Bend, IN (The South Bend Tribune) and Bloomington, IN (Herald-Times). The group has an average daily circulation of 105,000 and Sunday circulation of 94,000 and its websites average over 4 million unique visitors monthly and have over 300,000 social media followers. Additionally, there are nine weekly and fourteen other community publications that have aggregate weekly circulation of 250,000. These assets span Indiana, South Dakota, Maryland, Michigan, and Pennsylvania.

Michael E. Reed, New Media President and Chief Executive Officer, said, “We are excited to welcome the Schurz publications and their employees into New Media. After nearly 150 years of ownership, we are honored that the Schurz family has chosen us to steward these papers into the future. They have a long history of strong journalism and community impact and we are excited to build upon their digital efforts with the introduction of our UpCurve products.”

USA, New York, NY & Michawaka, IN

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RTL Netherlands acquires media company BrandDeli

December 20, 2018 — Fusion DigiNet

RTL NetherlandsRTL Netherlands is to acquire BrandDeli, the sales house for the Discovery, Fox and Viacom brand portfolio for an undisclosed amount. The acquisition is the result of RTL Netherlands, Discovery Benelux, Fox Networks Group Benelux and Viacom International Media Networks entering into a strategic sales partnership as of 1 January 2019.

RTL will be granted the right to sell advertising space for at least three years for the Discovery, Fox and Viacom brand portfolio, offering a wider range of spot time, branded partnerships and online (video and display) advertising space.

Advertisers will have access to a larger overall reach, especially in younger target groups in both daytime and prime time slots. Discovery, Fox and Viacom also keep the opportunity to sell their own airtime.

Ton Rozestraten, CCO RTL Netherlands, said, “In five years, BrandDeli has grown into a successful company that we look at with admiration. Cooperation enables us to market an even wider and more varied range of products with the beautiful brands that BrandDeli represents. It fits in with our growth strategy to strengthen our position as a local player within the globalising playing field. Like no other, we are able to reach the masses with high-quality programmes and digital propositions. By combining this strength with BrandDeli’s rich cross-media offering (apps, social media, linear TV and websites), we offer advertisers access to an even more varied and growing fan base.”

Netherlands, Hilversum & Amsterdam

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A Fusion Deal: Reorg acquires a controlling stake in Debt Explained

November 19, 2018 — Fusion DigiNet

Debt ExplainedDebt Explained Limited, the provider of data and analysis on the European high-yield and leverage loan markets has sold a controlling stake to Reorg, a financial media and technology company. Fusion Corporate Partners acted as corporate advisor for Debt Explained. The Fusion team was led by Paul Slight, Director at Fusion. The terms of the deals were not disclosed.

Founded in 2009, Debt Explained creates and curates data and analysis on bond and loan deals through its proprietary data bases and unique scoring and bench-marking products. These allow for detailed trend analysis in the European high yield and leverage loan markets. The combination of Reorg and Debt Explained will make these tools available on a global basis, driving a new and unique subscriber experience in Europe, the United States and beyond.

“Reorg’s partnership with Debt Explained will create the industry-leading product in the global non-investment grade credit markets”, said Kent Collier, founder and chief executive officer of Reorg. “This fits in perfectly with our strategic vision, and we look forward to building our business together and providing more and even better information to our subscribers.”
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Stephen Mostyn-Williams, founder and chairman of Debt Explained, will continue as part of the combined business. Mostyn-Williams said, “All the Debt Explained team are very pleased to partner with Kent and his team in taking our combined offering onto a global stage. This transaction gives us a tremendous opportunity to enhance the strengths of two market leading firms for the benefit of our mutual global client base. Combining our research, data and scoring products with Reorg’s editorial content and proprietary technology will provide world class, industry leading products across Europe, Asia and North America.”

USA, New York, NY & UK, London

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Touch Medical Media acquires Heart International and forms strategic partnership with Interventional Academy

November 16, 2018 — Fusion DigiNet

TouchMedical MediaTouch Medical Media has acquired leading cardiology journal Heart International for an undisclosed sum, and formed a strategic partnership with Interventional Academy, owner of the Complex Cardiovascular Catheter Therapeutics (C3) Global Summit.

Heart International is an open access, peer reviewed journal dedicated to the publication of original research and reviews on cardiovascular disease in its broadest terms. Heart International is indexed in a number of different databases including the Emerging Sources Citation Index, Scopus and has its full archives listed on PubMed Central.

C3 is a leading global annual cardiology conference that is rapidly growing. It has been designed for physicians who specialise in interventional cardiology, vascular surgery, interventional radiology, podiatry, as well as fellows, residents, and other healthcare professionals interested in atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease.

Heart International is led by Editor-in-Chief, Dr Magdi El-Omar and Co-Editor-in-Chief, Dr Rajesh Davé. Dr Magdi El-Omar is Consultant Interventional Cardiologist at the Manchester Heart Centre, and Honorary Senior Lecturer at the University of Manchester, Manchester, UK, whilst Dr Rajesh Davé is Chief Medical Executive, Holy Spirit Cardiovascular Institute, Chairman, Department of Cardiology and Director, Cardiac Catheterization Laboratories, the Ortenzio Heart Center at Holy Spirit Hospital, Camp Hill, PA, USA. Dr Davé is Chairman of C3, whilst Dr El-Omar is a co-director of the course.

Barney Kent, Group Managing Director at Touch Medical Media said, “We are really excited about the recent acquisition of Heart International, which has been in circulation since 2006, and also our partnership with Interventional Academy. The addition of Heart International to the touchCARDIO journal portfolio will give our website more depth of content, and since the Journal is indexed on all major databases, it will encourage authors to publish with us and ultimately increase the flow of high-quality open access content for our users. The acquisition has significantly strengthened our rapidly growing database of physicians who sign up to receive regular updates and in addition, our strategic partnership with Interventional Academy will be very beneficial to both organisations on a number of levels. Myself and the team here at touchCARDIO very much look forward to working with Dr El-Omar and Dr Davé to develop the Journal and our partnership over the coming years.”

UK, Reading & USA, Harrisburg, PA

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THQ Nordic acquires game development studios Coffee Stain and Bugbear

November 14, 2018 — Fusion DigiNet

THQ NordicTHQ Nordic has acquired both Coffee Stain Studios, developers of Deep Rock Galactic, A Story About My Uncle, and the Satisfactory, and Bugbear Entertainment, who created Flatout and Wreckfest. The terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Lars Wingefors, CEO of THQ Nordic, said, “We are creating a complementary digital native pillar to THQ Nordic. Coffee Stain is a passionate and highly competent team creating and publishing great games. After some years without major releases, the pipeline of new game releases such as Satisfactory and Deep Rock Galactic look strong. I look forward to working together with Anton Westbergh and his team in the future.”

THQ Nordic now has a sizeable array of studios and IPs, with over 55 games in active development.

Austria, Vienna, Sweden, Skövde & Finland, Helsinki

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Penske Media acquires ARTnews & Art in America

November 13, 2018 — Fusion DigiNet

Penske Media CorporationPenske Media Corporation has acquired leading art publications ARTnews and Art in America as part of the overall acquisition of Art Media Holdings LLC, the largest independent art publishing group that also includes The Magazine ANTIQUES and MODERN Magazine. The terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

ARTnews, founded in 1902 and winner of over 40 major journalism awards, is the most highly circulated contemporary art magazine in the world. ARTnews is a resource for leaders of the international art world, with digitally led news coverage from its global correspondents, investigative reports, reviews of exhibitions, and profiles of artists and collectors.

Since its founding in 1913, Art in America provides artists, curators, and collectors in the US and around the world with informed analysis of the world’s most important art movements.

PMC Chairman and CEO Jay Penske said, “For more than a century ARTnews and Art in America have been leaders in breaking news and commentary on the art world. To welcome these fine publications, whose editorial heritage I have long admired, is not only a remarkable opportunity but also a great honor. This purchase continues PMC’s strategy of investing in businesses with great vertical depth, and we plan to rapidly build upon their editorial foundation while extending their presence across the web, video, and international markets.”

USA, New York, NY

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Meredith sells Fortune magazine to Thai billionaire for $150M

November 9, 2018 — Fusion DigiNet

MEREDITH CORPORATION LOGOU.S. media company Meredith Corp is selling Fortune magazine for $150 million in cash to Thai businessman Chatchaval Jiaravanon, the second time the influential business magazine has changed hands this year. Best known for the “Fortune 500” list, the magazine was acquired by Meredith as part of its acquisition of Time Inc in January for $1.84 billion.

Jiaravanon is best known for his affiliation with Charoen Pokphand Group, or C.P. Group, a business conglomerate with stakes in the Thai telecommunications, food, retail and automotive industries.

The Fortune sale is expected to close before the end of the year and it will be a personal holding of Jiaravanon. In a statement, Jiaravanon said he wants to make Fortune “the world’s leading business media brand. The demand for high-quality business information is growing and with further committed investment in technology and brilliant journalism, we believe the outlook for further profitable growth is excellent both for the publication and the events business”.

Alan Murray, who has been editor of Fortune since 2014 and previously served as chief content officer of Time Inc., is becoming president and CEO of Fortune. He wrote on Twitter that he’s “delighted to have found a buyer for Fortune that shares our mission, our independence and will invest to make Fortune grow.”

USA, New York, NY

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Ascential acquires Flywheel Digital for $60M

November 1, 2018 — Fusion DigiNet

Ascential plcGlobal specialist information and events company Ascential plc is to acquire Flywheel Digital, a leading US-based provider of managed services to consumer product companies trading on Amazon, for an initial cash consideration of $60 million plus earn out payments payable over three years.

Founded in 2014, Flywheel offers customers Amazon-specific software, tools and expertise to drive sales and brand performance across Amazon platforms by directly actioning solutions for clients. Flywheel’s proprietary platforms and processes optimise brands’ online operations, including merchandising, supply logistics and media management. Flywheel primarily serves large-scale US consumer product companies, with more than 70 customers and more than 90 staff based in Baltimore and Seattle.

The initial consideration of US$60m (subject to normal working capital adjustments) is being paid out of Ascential’s existing cash reserves using capital released from the sale of the Exhibitions business. Earn out consideration is payable in cash based on the revenue of the business for the next three years to 2021 and is expected to total between approximately US$47m and US$196m. A portion of the earn out is subject to the founders remaining in employment with the company. The total potential consideration, including both initial consideration and earn out payments, is capped at US$400m in the event that extremely stretching revenue levels are reached.

In the year ended December 2017, Flywheel grew its revenue by more than 150% and delivered unaudited profit before tax of $4.8m. It had gross assets of $23.9m at December 2017. The transaction is expected to be earnings accretive in Ascential’s current financial year.

Flywheel will report to Duncan Painter, CEO of Ascential. The business will be reported as part of Ascential’s Sales segment alongside the newly integrated Edge business (comprising One Click Retail, Clavis, Planet Retail RNG and Brand View) which offers a range of insight and advisory solutions to improve performance across Amazon and other eCommerce platforms.

Duncan Painter, CEO of Ascential, commented, ‘We have a clear focus on providing information and capabilities that enable our customers to succeed in the digital economy. The acquisition of Flywheel is in line with this strategy, further strengthening our offerings in eCommerce for brands navigating the digital market places, particularly Amazon.’

UK, London & USA, Seattle, WA

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