Bath media group Future today announced it is to expand into the fast-growing self-build housing market with the acquisition of Centaur Media’s home interest division for £32m.
The deal, which Future will part pay for by issuing new shares worth £22m, brings the three key brands to the group’s portfolio – Homebuilding & Renovating, Period Living and Real Homes. 
It is the latest in a string of acquisitions for Future which have helped transform the group from a traditional magazine and website publisher to a diversified media operation spanning exhibitions, events and e-commerce as well as world-leading print and digital titles.
London-based Centaur Media’s home interest division includes seven exhibitions, print and digital assets. In 2016 it generated annual revenues of £12.8m and pro-forma earnings of £3.9m.
Future, whose titles include Techradar, PCGamer.com and T3, today said the deal would add a highly attractive new vertical to the group – home owner construction. The market is made up of two parts – owner-commissioned housing and the renovation, maintenance and improvement.
These markets combined were worth around £23bn last year, according to the Office for National Statistics, with growth spurred by an increasing public focus on self-build and customer housing as well as new government initiatives.
The Home Interest division targets affluent audiences and communities with access to significant individual budgets of £100,000-plus to invest in projects, said Future.
The group is made up of:
- Homebuilding & Renovating – the market leader in the self-build and renovation sector, which includes national and regional exhibitions and the UK’s top-selling self-build magazine and digital workflow tools,
- Period Living – a period homes magazine and website focused on the specialist period living sector,
- Real Homes – a magazine and website aimed at people with active home improvement and extension projects.
In total the division’s magazines have a circulation of over 870,000. Future said the largest proportion of Home Interest’s revenue came from exhibitions, which accounted for around 50% of total 2016 revenue. Print revenue accounted for around 36% and digital revenue for around 13% of total 2016 revenue.
The exhibitions attracted approximately 94,000 visitors and 1,734 exhibitors in 2016, representing growth of 6% since 2015, and provided Home Interest with multiple opportunities throughout the year to successfully target their audience. The business is a trusted resource to homebuilding and renovating communities, providing reliable guidance, information and tools.
Future CEO Zillah Byng-Thorne said: “Centaur’s Home Interest division will significantly add to our scale and momentum, while further diversifying our revenue streams, as we continue to build a global platform business for specialist media with data at its heart.
“The Home Interest division brings a strong management team and market leading access to an attractive new vertical with clear growth potential. Home Interest’s brands, market position, industry leading events and quality content are a strong fit and will further reinforce our position as a trusted destination for consumers and for our customers.
“We have a track record in profitably integrating acquisitions and we expect the acquisition of Centaur's Home Interest division to be materially earnings enhancing in the first full year of ownership.”
Future said the Home Interest assets would be merged into its magazine and media divisions with efficiencies and economies of scale being realised as quickly as possible. The Home Interest senior management team will continue to lead the division, with the commercial and content teams remaining in Bromsgrove.
Future’s acquisitions over past two years have included technology and the mobile multi-platform publisher Noble House Media, music and field sports magazine publisher and event organiser Blaze Publishing, Australian digital shopping comparison business Next Commerce, magazine and bookazine publisher Imagine, and Team Rock, which brought titles such as Classic Rock, Metal Hammer and Prog into its portfolio.
Future made pre-tax profits of £900,000 in the six months to March 31 against losses over recent years on group revenues up by 35% to £40.9m. Adjusted operating profit increased by 375% to £3.8m – more than the £2.8m achieved in its last full year.
Its media division focuses on revenue streams such as e-commerce, events and digital advertising through brands such as Techradar, PC Gamer, GamesRadar+, The Photography Show, Generate and Golden Joysticks.
The magazine division has more than 100 publications spanning technology, games, music, film, photography, creative & design, field sports and science & knowledge.
Future will issue 8.8m new ordinary shares at a price of 250p per share to part-fund the acquisition, which is conditional upon the approval of Centaur Media’s shareholders.
