Digitally-Focused Financial News, Tools and
Research Business To Be Operated By News Corp’s Dow Jones
Division
More than 90% of Revenues and Subscriptions
Are Digital
News Corp announced today it has agreed to acquire Investor’s
Business Daily from O’Neil Capital Management. The high margin,
profitable and rapidly growing digital first financial news and
research business will be operated by Dow Jones, a News Corp
subsidiary.
Investor’s Business Daily (IBD), which operates the
Investors.com website, was founded by William J. O’Neil in 1984 and
has experienced double-digit revenue growth over the past several
years, with digital representing more than 90% of IBD’s revenues
and subscriptions.
A majority of IBD’s annual revenues and profits come from the
company’s unique investor tools, research and analysis products,
which have experienced sharp increases in popularity and
profitability as more and more investors seek out quality
information through digital products to guide their financial
decisions.
In addition to its rapid growth in recent years, IBD, which is
being acquired by News Corp for $275 million, has a revenue base
that is almost entirely digital, representing nearly 100,000
digital subscribers across its platforms, and minimal overlap with
Dow Jones’s existing subscriber base. IBD publishes a print edition
once a week, in addition to continually updated news on
investors.com, which reached an audience of 10.8 million average
monthly unique visitors in February, 2021, according to Adobe
Analytics. IBD, in collaboration with TechnoMetrica Market
Intelligence, provides IBD/TIPP polls, which were rated among the
most accurate presidential polls in 2012, 2016 and 2020.
News Corp says the acquisition will expand Dow Jones’s offering
with the addition of proprietary data and tools for professional
and retail investors to help them identify top-performing stocks.
Investor’s Business Daily’s stock recommendations are based on an
investment philosophy pioneered by Mr. O’Neil.
“IBD will greatly enhance our e-expertise in finance, with
compelling digital coverage, unique tools and high-yielding
services. We will be able to cross-sell and up-sell with Dow Jones
financial products and provide specialist insights for a knowing
business audience,” said Robert Thomson, Chief Executive of News
Corp. “Dow Jones and the Wall Street Journal reported record
profits in the last quarter and I have no doubt that IBD’s savvy
digital products and journalism will significantly bolster
profitability at the Dow Jones segment. This transformative deal
obviously comes as investor interest is surging in stock and bond
markets and there is a premium for intelligence, insight and
integrity.”
The deal will benefit from, and add value to, News Corp’s
relentless and successful digital focus. News Corp’s most recent
financial quarter was the most profitable since the company was
launched in 2013. Dow Jones’s industry-leading paywall model has
helped drive record-breaking digital subscription growth. In the
quarter ending December 31, 2020, Dow Jones achieved its highest
quarterly Segment EBITDA since 2007, with traffic across the Dow
Jones digital network also surging 48 percent. Dow Jones is home to
The Wall Street Journal, MarketWatch, Barron’s and Mansion Global,
among other publications, products and news sites.
Almar Latour, CEO, Dow Jones, said: “The prospect of combining
our collective skills and strengths, especially our shared legacies
of trusted, rigorous journalism and research, opens up a wide range
of potential. It creates exciting possibilities to grow quality at
scale, diversify our tailored digital offerings and forge even
deeper connections with the professional and retail investment
communities.”
William Scott O’Neil, CEO of O’Neil Capital Management and
Investor’s Business Daily, said: “We pride ourselves on helping to
educate and empower investors so that they can make smarter, more
profitable investing decisions. We can’t think of a better place
than News Corp and Dow Jones to take Investor’s Business Daily into
its next phase of growth and create even more value for our loyal
subscribers.”
Jerry Ferrara, President of Investor’s Business Daily, said:
“After a period of rapid growth and digital innovation, now is the
right time for us to take our next big leap forward. Joining the
News Corp and Dow Jones family will afford us many opportunities to
continue scaling our business, increase our global distribution and
accelerate our initiatives. IBD’s core purpose will not change but
will only be amplified as we embark on the next chapter of our
humble but storied history. We are in a unique moment in time where
new retail investors are entering the financial markets. They need
authoritative resources, quality information and truthful guidance
like never before.”
IBD launched as Investor’s Daily in 1984 when William J. O’Neil
had been studying the best stocks of all time for twenty years,
discovering seven common traits these stocks displayed just before
they made their biggest gains. Post acquisition, IBD, which has
approximately 130 employees, will continue to be based at its
headquarters in Los Angeles, and will operate as a stand-alone
brand as part of Dow Jones.
Baker Hostetler served as legal advisor to the purchaser in the
transaction.
Investment Bank, Canaccord Genuity, served as financial advisor,
and Norton Rose Fulbright served as legal advisor to O’Neil Capital
Management, the seller, in the transaction.
The acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions,
including regulatory approvals. The closing is anticipated during
the fourth quarter of News Corp’s current fiscal year, which ends
June 30, 2021.
About O'Neil Capital Management
O'Neil Capital Management is a private company and family office
with investment interests in asset management, real estate,
printing, digital media, brokerage, investment advisory, and
information technology services.
About News Corp
News Corp (Nasdaq: NWS, NWSA; ASX: NWS, NWSLV) is a global,
diversified media and information services company focused on
creating and distributing authoritative and engaging content and
other products and services. The company comprises businesses
across a range of media, including: digital real estate services,
subscription video services in Australia, news and information
services and book publishing. Headquartered in New York, News Corp
operates primarily in the United States, Australia, and the United
Kingdom, and its content and other products and services are
distributed and consumed worldwide. More information is available
at: http://www.newscorp.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This release contains forward-looking statements based on
current expectations or beliefs, as well as assumptions about
future events, and these statements are subject to factors and
uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially
from those described in the forward-looking statements. The words
“expect,” “estimate,” “anticipate,” “predict,” “believe,”
“potential” and similar expressions and variations thereof are
intended to identify forward-looking statements. These statements
appear in a number of places in this release and include statements
with respect to, among other things, the expected timing for the
completion of, and the potential benefits from, the acquisition of
IBD. Readers are cautioned that any forward-looking statements are
not guarantees of future performance and involve risks and
uncertainties. Many factors, such as the risks and uncertainties
related to the parties’ efforts to comply with and satisfy
applicable regulatory approvals and closing conditions relating to
the acquisition, as well as continued uncertainty caused by the
coronavirus pandemic, could cause actual results to differ
materially from those described in these forward-looking
statements. The forward-looking statements in this release speak
only as of this date and News Corp and Dow Jones undertake no
obligation (and expressly disclaim any obligation) to publicly
update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a
result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as
required by law.
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210325005565/en/
News Corp Investor Relations Michael Florin 212-416-3363
mflorin@newscorp.com
News Corp Corporate Communications Jim Kennedy 212-416-4064
jkennedy@newscorp.com
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