B2B publisher Vitesse Media will buy Investment News for around $27.1m in its first step into the US market.
Vitesse, will buy the New-York based magazine and website as part of its expansion strategy, it was announced this week.
The UK-based group already owns Smallbusiness.co.uk, Growth Company Investor, Information Age, Growthbusiness.co.uk and What Investment.
Simon Stilwell, who became chief executive of Vitesse in August last year, said the company planned to grow its business information, live events and data and insights provision across its three main sectors: technology, financial services, and diversity.
“Since I joined Vitesse last year we have overhauled the board and management team as well as the strategy and this is the first major step in executing on our growth plan,” Stilwell said.
“Investment News is the leading brand in its community, it fits well into the Vitesse stable and provides the company with the opportunity to pursue other bolt on opportunities to expand, especially in its events and data business.
“Its American presence further allows us to expand our reach geographically, a key aspect of our future strategy.”
Vitesse will buy Investment News from family-owned Crain Communications, which launched the magazine in 1997 and which publishes a number of other B2B and regional titles.
Investment News magazine comes out 45 times a year under a team of 42, which is expected to stay intact as part of the deal.
The title has more than 150,000 weekly print readers and its website has an average of 545,000 unique visitors and 1.6m page views each month (own figures).
Vitesse said Investment News was a “highly attractive” acquisition because it has been lacked investment while having the potential for “accelerated organic growth” and is a leading B2B brand in its sector.
Investment News covers the US financial advisory and wealth management sector, which Vitesse said has further potential for growth. It said the brand has high margin revenue streams and an experienced management team.
Suzanne Siracuse, publisher of Investment News, said: “We are looking forward to the future and the many growth opportunities that lie ahead of us with Vitesse as our new owner.
“We are thankful for all the support that Crain has given us over the years.”
Both Vitesse and Investment News run events businesses, another area in which Vitesse plans to grow.
After the deal is completed in the middle of this month, Vitesse plans to change its name to Bonhill Group – subject to shareholders’ approval.
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