REG - Future PLC - Acquisition of WhoWhatWear

FutureAnnouncement

10/05/2022 07:00

For best results when printing this announcement, please click on link below:
http://newsfile.refinitiv.com/getnewsfile/v1/story?guid=urn:newsml:reuters.com:20220510:nRSJ9093Ka&default-theme=true

RNS Number : 9093K  Future PLC  10 May 2022

10 May 2022

Future plc

Acquisition of WhoWhatWear

 

Future plc (LSE: FUTR; "Future" or "the Group"), the global platform for
specialist media, today announces the acquisition of WhoWhatWear, a leading
digital-only women's lifestyle publisher based in the US from Clique Brands
Inc.

 

WhoWhatWear is a brand highly-regarded by both consumers and advertisers with
a strong social presence and diverse revenue streams ranging from digital
advertising to eCommerce. The publisher has 12m online users (source:
GoogleAnalytics) and 10m social followers, with c.90% of its revenue derived
from the US.

 

The acquisition further strengthens Future's position in the Women's Lifestyle
vertical and gives the Group greater scale and reach in North America to
further monetise its audience. Combined with the Group's existing business,
Future will become the 6th largest Beauty and Fashion publisher in the US
(source: ComScore). With Future's content already reaching 1 in 3 adults
online in the US, the transaction will accelerate Future's scale and revenue
opportunities in the US.

 

The Group's existing Women's Lifestyle brands will benefit from WhoWhatWear's
leading direct advertising sales capabilities, whilst WhoWhatWear will benefit
from Future's proprietary technology stack and operating model to drive the
platform effect.

 

The acquisition will be funded from the Group's existing debt facilities.
Following the acquisition, leverage is expected to remain at under 2x EBITDA.
Further financial details will be provided at the Group's interim results on
the 18 May 2022.

 

 

Zillah Byng-Thorne, Chief Executive, said: "We are delighted to welcome the
WhoWhatWear team to Future. We look forward to working with them to further
bolster our Women's Lifestyle scale and reach, notably in the US, and are
excited about leveraging its scale with our proprietary technology and
operating model."

 

 

Hillary Kerr, Co-founder and Chief Content Officer of WhoWhatWear, said:
"Since our launch in 2006, Who What Wear has been and will continue to be a
pioneer in every form of digital content, from website and social media to
live stream shopping, podcasts, and more. We have created a sustainable brand
and are excited about the next stage in our growth trajectory as we build our
scale and presence as part of Future."

 

 

Completion of the acquisition is conditional upon, among other things,
expiration of the applicable waiting period under the U.S. Hart-Scott-Rodino
Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976 ("HSR").

 

As previously announced, Future will publish its interim results for the six
months to 31 March 2022 on Wednesday 18 May 2022. A video conference call for
analysts and institutional investors will be held at 9.00am on the day.

 

 

Enquiries

 

Future plc

Zillah Byng-Thorne, Chief Executive Officer                 +44
(0)1225 442244

Penny Ladkin-Brand, Chief Financial Officer

Marion Le Bot, Head of Investor Relations
+44(0)7775 641509

 

Media

Headland
 
+44 (0) 20 3805 4822

Stephen Malthouse, Rob Walker, Charlie Twigg

future@headlandconsultancy.com

 

Legal Entity Identifier (LEI): 213800K2581YRLEXV353

 

About Future

Future is a global platform business for specialist media with diversified
revenue streams. Its content reaches 1 in 2 adults online in the UK and 1 in 3
in the US.

 

The Media division is high-growth with complementary revenue streams including
eCommerce for products and services, events, and digital advertising
(including advertising within newsletters and video). It operates in a number
of sectors including technology, games & entertainment, music, home &
gardens, sports, TV & film, real life, knowledge, wealth & savings,
women's lifestyle and B2B. Its brands include TechRadar, PC Gamer, Tom's
Guide, Android Central, Truly, The Week, Kiplinger, GoCompare, Digital Camera
World, Homebuilding & Renovating Show, GamesRadar+, The Photography Show,
Top Ten Reviews, Marie Claire, Live Science, Guitar World, MusicRadar,
Space.com, What to Watch, Gardening Etc, Adventure and Tom's Hardware.

 

The Magazine division focuses on publishing specialist content, with a
combined global circulation of over 3 million delivered through more than 131
magazines, and 735 bookazines published a year. The portfolio spans
technology, knowledge, games & entertainment, sports, music, photography
& design, homes & garden, country lifestyle, TV & film and B2B.
Its titles include Country Life, Wallpaper*, Woman & Home, The Week,
Classic Rock, Decanter, Guitar Player, FourFourTwo, Homebuilding &
Renovating, Digital Camera, Guitarist, How It Works, Total Film, What Hi-Fi?
and Music Week.

 

 

This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution of this information may apply. For further information, please contact
rns@lseg.com (mailto:rns@lseg.com)
 or visit
www.rns.com (http://www.rns.com/)
.

RNS may use your IP address to confirm compliance with the terms and conditions, to analyse how you engage with the information contained in this communication, and to share such analysis on an anonymised basis with others as part of our commercial services. For further information about how RNS and the London Stock Exchange use the personal data you provide us, please see our
Privacy Policy (https://www.lseg.com/privacy-and-cookie-policy)
.   END  ACQGUGDUDSBDGDG