Golf Monthly is set to be one of over 40 magazines to change ownership following a £140m bid from Bath-based publishing company Future to buy Ti Media.
Previously known as Time Inc UK, and before that as IPC, Ti Media boasts a stable of 41 titles in the UK, operating across a wide range of lifestyle, women’s interest and sporting brands, including Country Life, Horse & Hound, The Field, Shooting Times, Rugby World, TV Times, What’s on TV, Woman & Home and Wallpaper.
Future’s portfolio currently numbers over 130 titles, including PC Gamer, Total Film, Total Guitar and FourFourTwo. Future said its SEO and technical expertise would help scale Ti Media’s brands digitally and internationally.
Future’s chief executive, Zillah Byng-Thorne, said: “This acquisition provides an outstanding opportunity to accelerate Future’s strategy and to bolster its growth levers. TI Media’s long-established market-leading brands, industry events and quality content are an exceptional fit with our business and our strategy. TI Media will substantially expand our presence in existing verticals and bring a number of new content verticals that will significantly enhance the Future portfolio.
“In addition, the largely UK-focused, print-led nature of the TI Media portfolio offers a multiplicity of opportunities to leverage our proprietary technology stack and operating model to develop new digital monetisation models and geographic expansion.”
Future, which was founded in 1985, reported revenues of £124.6m in 2018 (up from £84.4m in 2017), and operating profits of £18.5m (up from £8.9m). The bid for Ti Media is subject to shareholder and regulatory approval.