REG - Digitalbox PLC - Acquisition of The Poke

DigitalboxAnnouncement

01/12/2022 07:00

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RNS Number : 1604I  Digitalbox PLC  01 December 2022

1(st) December 2022

Digitalbox plc

("Digitalbox" or the "Company")

 

Acquisition of The Poke

Digitalbox plc, the mobile-first digital media business, which owns leading
websites Entertainment Daily, The Daily Mash and The Tab is pleased to
announce it has acquired the business and assets of thepoke.co.uk ("The Poke")
for an undisclosed sum.

About The Poke

Launched in 2002, The Poke is a British satirical website which aims "to
provide an antidote to the daily grind" and deliver fast-turnaround topical
distractions. The Poke handpicks the funniest content on the web to enable its
users to spend" time well wasted". While the Digitalbox-owned Daily Mash
creates its own satirical spins on the news and modern British life, The
Poke focuses on finding and editorialising others' funny takes for wider
consumption. The Poke is known for distributing viral videos which are often
Auto-Tune edits of British current affairs, and its website can be found at
https://www.thepoke.co.uk/ (https://www.thepoke.co.uk/) .

The Acquisition

The Poke provides a great opportunity for Digitalbox to strengthen its
position within the satire/comedy space. The Poke has over 3 million monthly
sessions, which when combined with The Daily Mash's 3 million monthly
sessions, will establish the Digitalbox as the UK's leading destination for
online humour.

The Poke generated revenue of c.£0.17m in its financial year to November
2021. Notwithstanding this, Digitalbox expects to be able to materially
enhance the contribution from The Poke in the medium term through integration
with its Graphene technology platform.

The Company's Graphene technology platform has already helped to deliver a
strong return on The Tab investment. Since Digitalbox acquired The Tab in
October 2020, it has seen significant profit growth, with revenue for the six
months to 30 June 2022 up 52% as a direct result of the Graphene ad stack
being deployed. Once the integration of The Poke is complete, the Company will
look to optimise the site's position, before exploring further opportunities
for growth on the site.

James Carter, CEO, Digitalbox, said: "The Poke is another excellent addition
to our growing portfolio of exciting digital assets. We have a proven and
successful approach to integration which releases value from the assets we
acquire. The inclusion of The Poke, alongside The Daily Mash and The Tab,
creates opportunities to grow our audiences across the sites and strengthen
the Company's market position which is led by Entertainment Daily."

John Plunkett, Editor of The Poke said: "I have enjoyed running this
independent UK institution over the last five years as we have built on the
success of the brand first brought to life in 2002. As the site continues to
prosper in these uncertain times, we see it as a perfect moment to become part
of a company with an enhanced tech infrastructure presenting further
opportunities for growth alongside the Daily Mash."

END

Market abuse regulation: This announcement contains inside information for
the purposes of Article 7 of Regulation (EU) No 596/2014 as it forms part of
UK domestic law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018
("MAR") .

Enquiries:

 Digitalbox                                                    c/o SEC Newgate
 James Carter, CEO

 Panmure Gordon                                                Tel: 020 7886 2500

 (Nominated Adviser, Financial Adviser & Joint Broker )
 Alina Vaskina / James Sinclair-Ford (Corporate Advisory)
 Rupert Dearden (Corporate Broking)

 Alvarium Capital Partners (Joint Broker)                      Tel: 020 7195 1400
 Alex Davies / Hugh Kingsmill Moore

 SEC Newgate (Financial Communications)                        Tel: 07970 664807
 Robin Tozer / Molly Gretton / Max Richardson                  digitalbox@secnewgate.co.uk

 

About Digitalbox plc

Based in Bath, UK, Digitalbox is a 'pure-play' digital media business with the
aim of profitable publishing at scale on mobile platforms.

Digitalbox operates three trading brands, "Entertainment Daily", "The Tab" and
"The Daily Mash". Entertainment Daily produces and publishes online UK
entertainment news covering TV, showbiz and celebrity news. The Daily Mash
produces and publishes satirical news content. The Tab is the UK's biggest
youth culture site fuelled by students.

 

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