The Intermedia Group, publisher of business-to-business magazines including Professional Beauty, Spa Australasia and INSTYLE, and websites professionalbeauty.com.au and styleicons.com.au, has acquired Print and Digital Publishing (PDP), the owner of Time Out magazines and websites in Australia.
This acquisition represents significant growth for the publishing, events and exhibitions company, with Time Out titles complementing an existing stable of publications, covering diverse categories including consumer electronics, film, liquor, hotels, hospitality and logistics.
PDP, which will continue to operate as a separate entity within Intermedia, has the distribution rights to the Time Out brand in Australia and New Zealand. Time Out Sydney, the flagship consumer publication, focuses on arts, entertainment, nightlife and food. It is currently distributed through subscriptions, newsagencies and hotels.
Overseas, the Time Out brand is a market leader in 30 cities, including London and New York, where it has become an iconic title over 40 years.
Most noticeably for Intermedia, this represents an important movement towards consumer publishing, with the majority of its current titles specialising in trade and industry content.
Intermedia Group managing director Simon Grover highlighted the confluence of synergies as a key factor in making this decision. “There are many synergies,” he said. “A number of existing Intermedia titles, websites and events already have extensive advertising and editorial contacts within the consumer lifestyle and hospitality categories, as well as a strong database of readers for increasing subscription revenue and wider distribution.”
Justin Etheridge, Chief Executive of PDP, said “PDP and Time Out Sydney are very excited to be joining with Intermedia. Our titles complement each other perfectly – the combined readership figures and reach provide a very valuable proposition for advertisers.”
"Time Out Sydney’s website has grown by 1002 percent in the past year and our paid subscriber numbers have doubled in the last seven months. Recent events such as the Time Out Bar Awards, Time Out Sydney Comedy Festival Awards and our Bruno Premiere after-party have been hailed as major successes by both readers and sponsors."
"We will draw on Intermedia’s strength to further this growth, both in terms of geography as well as new titles."