Magazine publisher Future is eyeing plans to better “monetise” personal finance content from MoneyWeek and Kiplinger and take news title The Week into new markets after striking a deal to purchase a portfolio of publications for £300m.
Shares in the UK-listed group hit a 21-year high on Monday, rallying 7 per cent to give a market capitalisation of £4.78bn, after it said it was buying several titles from private equity-owned Dennis Publishing.
The move is the latest in a series of deals by the Bath-based publisher, whose other magazines include Total Guitar, PC Gamer and Country Life. Future has avoided the losses that have hurt rivals during the pandemic thanks in part to a strategy of generating commissions through titles that target niche consumer interests.
Zillah Byng-Thorne, Future’s chief executive, said she saw scope to roll out the ecommerce strategy to personal finance brands MoneyWeek and Kiplinger.
Byng-Thorne, who has revived Future’s fortunes since she took over in 2014, said there was a particular opportunity in the lucrative US personal finance market.
Kiplinger, founded in 1920 by a former Associated Press economics reporter in Washington, is one of the best known brands in the sector but “they largely don’t monetise” much of the online content, she said.
“It’s got the opportunity to be a Money Saving Expert equivalent in the US, by taking that kind of mindset to it, but using the heritage of the Kiplinger brand,” Byng-Thorne said.
Future said it would ensure the editorial independence of the brands, including by keeping the “church and state” separation between editorial and ecommerce staff.
The company has similar plans in the UK for MoneyWeek, edited by Financial Times columnist Merryn Somerset Webb.
Byng-Thorne also said she saw scope to take The Week — founded in 1995 in a converted London garage — into new markets, potentially including Australia and Canada. She added that Future, which owns news website Live Science, could also launch a science version of The Week — possibly as a monthly print title, as well as online.
The Week, which collates news from other sources and already has a US edition as well as a version for children, previously launched in Australia but walked away from the country in 2012.
Future said it expected to produce cost synergies of £5m a year from the integration, in part through a consolidation of Dennis’s property portfolio, given their office presence in London, New York and Washington overlaps.
The trend to work from home was a factor, Byng-Thorne said. “It certainly helps, because the Future strategy is three days a week in the office and two days at home, so it certainly means we have more capacity to absorb more people into our existing offices.”
The acquisition from Dennis, owned by private equity group Exponent, is the latest in a series by deal-hungry Future, which has this year also bought Marie Claire US and moved into price comparison services through its purchase of GoCompare.
Asked about the prospect of more, the chief executive said: “Right now the focus has to be on integration . . . I would think it’s unlikely we’d do anything material for a little while, but if we were to come across a brand that was in line with our strategy then of course we would still want to take the opportunity.”