Monthly newspaper and digital news outlet Byline Times has put 2% of its share capital up for sale as it seeks investment to fuel a new marketing effort.
The 2,331 shares on sale are being offered at £85.81 each, valuing the title at £9m, and would raise more than £200,000 if all were purchased.
The directors of Byline Times Ltd wrote in a prospectus for potential buyers that the company, which launched in 2019, “is no longer a scrappy start-up, and has professionalised its operation and is now ready for the next stage”.
The prospectus said 3% of the general public is aware of Byline Times “and building up this awareness is now its priority”. Money raised “will be used to increase marketing spend, including PR and paid-for advertising, with the objective of doubling awareness by the end of 2027”.
Byline Times publishes both via an un-paywalled website and a paid-for monthly print newspaper. The paper has been stocked on newsstands since October 2023.
Byline Times passes £1m annual revenue, plans to grow advertising revenue significantly over next three years
The prospectus revealed that Byline Times Ltd, which is not obliged to report detailed information to Companies House, generated revenue of more than £1m in 2024, an increase of 22% compared to 2023.
The bulk of that 2024 turnover, £881,000, came from its reported 30,000 subscriptions, with a further £67,000 generated from newsstand sales. The company made a trading profit of £33,000 in 2023 and £113,000 by the time in 2024 that the prospectus was prepared, representing gross margins of 22% and 31% respectively.
The company forecasts total revenue of £1.7m and a trading profit of £278,000 in 2027. Although Byline Times has previously avoided running advertisements the prospectus reported £3,000 in advertising income to date in 2024, which it forecasts will increase to £145,000 — 8.5% of total turnover — by 2027.
At present the largest shareholders in Byline Times Ltd are JTC Trustees (UK) Ltd (58%) and the newspaper’s founders Peter Jukes (18.6%) and Stephen Colegrave (18.5%). JTC describes itself as a provider of “institutional and private client services”.
The broader Byline brand, which includes Byline.tv, Byline Audio and Byline Festival, is a trademark held by Byline Media Holdings Ltd, rather than Byline Times Ltd.
The shares for sale, which have full voting rights and entitle holders to attend the online annual general meeting, are being offered exclusively to Byline Times subscribers and are not available to the general public.
In an email to subscribers announcing the offer and seen by Press Gazette, the publisher said it is “keen to offer our subscribers and supporters the opportunity to play an even greater part in the Byline Times family”. The shares are on offer on a first-come basis until the end of March.
In 2022 another young national print newspaper, The New European, raised £1m from 2,000 supporters by offering shares in the title at £3 each.
Last year former GB News presenter Dan Wootton said he was seeking damages and retractions from Byline Times after it reported he was under investigation (since dropped) by police. The Guardian, Daily Mirror, some Reach sites and Newsquest’s The National removed stories about the investigation following legal warnings from Wootton’s lawyer, but the stories remain online on Byline Times.
[Read more: ‘We’re not ideological’ says Byline Times as it continues Dan Wootton investigation]
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