New Media Age and The Lawyer publisher Centaur Media has endured a torrid year during the downturn. But, after finding a more optimistic first quarter, it’s now returning to acquisition.
It’s buying Taxbriefs Holdings, which publishes paid-for publications and reports for financial advisers, insurance and pension companies, for a straight £1.9 million in cash.
It’s a return to acquisition for Centaur, which between 2005 and 2007 bought Creative Handbook, travel service ABTN, engineering publisher Pro-Talk, Period Living & Traditional Homes magazine and Recruiter magazine, Logistics Manager magazine, plus a couple of events.
In August-to-December last year, Centaur lost half of its job ads, 22 percent of its advertising income, a quarter of its revenue and six percent of its its online subscription money, compared with 2008.
But this May Centaur said Q1 job ads came back by 20 percent and online ad sales rose 11 percent. It says Taxbriefs will get “significant marketing advantages through its association with Centaur’s market-leading brand Money Marketing”.