Picture Credit score: Vinyl Group
Australia’s Vinyl Group has acquired Rolling Stone and Selection’s Australian writer, The Brag Media, following a second spherical of funding from WiseTech International’s Richard White.
Vinyl Group, the one music firm listed on the Australian inventory trade (ASX:VNL), has introduced coming into into an settlement to totally purchase Australia’s The Brag Media, writer of Rolling Stone and Selection in Australia and New Zealand. The group additionally introduced a second spherical of funding by WiseTech International CEO and Founder, Richard White, with an $11 million placement and debt facility.
The Brag Media publishes its owned shops, TheBrag.com, The Music Community, and Tone Deaf, in addition to Penske Media Company (PMC) shops Rolling Stone and Selection in Australia and New Zealand.
It additionally completely represents native digital audiences for over a dozen different titles, akin to HypeBeast, Billboard, The Hollywood Reporter, Music Feeds, ComingSoon, Rotten Tomatoes, Recreation Revolution, and IndieWire. The Brag Media’s community of manufacturers reaches round ten million customers every month within the area, with over 40 million month-to-month web page views.
Vinyl Group pays $8 million in money to accumulate 100% of The Brag Media and its subsidiaries, with one other $2 million payable in money or inventory based mostly on monetary efficiency. Unaudited Monetary 12 months 2023 outcomes report The Brag Media generated $8.39 million in revenues, together with $334,824 in web revenue. In all, it has seen a mean income development of 125% over the previous two monetary years.
The acquisition will probably be funded with a brand new $11 million placement and debt facility from Vinyl Group investor Richard White, created to gas the corporate’s future development. That funding will probably be produced from his RealWise Group Holdings P&L, and follows his beforehand introduced funding in June.
As a part of the deal, The Brag Media CEO Luke Girgis has entered right into a full-time employment settlement with the corporate, as Writer and Managing Director of The Brag Media. Girgis will obtain 5 million choices upon sale completion, vesting in two equal tranches. The primary tranche vests upon reaching sure income and EBIT targets for 2024 and a minimal of 1 12 months of employment post-sale. The second will vest on the second anniversary of the sale completion.
“The following part within the evolution of The Brag Media will happen below the umbrella of Australia’s solely ASX-listed music enterprise, and I couldn’t be happier about it,” mentioned Girgis. “Proper from the earliest discussions we had, it was clear that the Board, Josh, and the crew shared our imaginative and prescient for the way forward for the enterprise, and I’m thrilled that they’ve made this dedication with us.”
“I’d additionally wish to acknowledge my co-founder and Managing Director, Sam Benjamin. This enterprise wouldn’t have reached the heights that it has with out Sam’s funding, assist, management, and mentorship over the previous six years.”
“Vinyl Group’s suite of merchandise work collectively to empower contributors of the music ecosystem and attain all nook of the creator financial system, and we will’t wait to start out working with the long-lasting mastheads that Luke and The Brag Media have efficiently developed in Australia,” provides Vinyl Group CEO Josh Simons.
“We’ve recognized a number of impactful synergies between the 2 companies that can ship speedy price efficiencies and income, together with streamlining Vampr’s in-app advertisements enterprise and leveraging The Brag Media’s spectacular viewers attain to bolster Jaxsta, Vinyl.com, and Vampr out there.”
“I’ve watched intently as Josh has constructed Vinyl Group’s income and made substantial enterprise positive aspects since taking my preliminary funding. I’ve additionally famous that Luke and his devoted crew at The Brag Media have quickly grown Brag into one in every of Australia’s most influential media and artistic companies,” concludes Richard White, CEO and Founding father of WiseTech International.
“There’s little question that iconic manufacturers like Rolling Stone and Selection make sense and add worth to VNL. Mixed below the management of Josh and Vinyl Group, the consolidated enterprise and crew can have much more development levers and choices.”