Bonnie Kintzer could just tell this was going to work, from that very first conversation.
It was back in January of this year, when Kintzer — the CEO and President of Trusted Media Brands — first connected with Jonathan Skogmo, the founder and CEO of Jukin Media. The chat went so well, in fact, that it set the stage for more conversations. And, ultimately, in a deal between both companies, which they jointly announced Thursday morning: Trusted Media Brands has acquired Jukin Media in an all-cash deal that, according to a source familiar with the terms, values the latter at an enterprise value of more than $100 million.
The first time the two CEOs “met,” Kintzer recounted to me in a phone interview, it was via long-distance video. That was thanks, of course, to the strictures imposed by the coronavirus pandemic. Nevertheless, the more the two chief executives talked, the more comfortable they got with each other, with their companies, and their respective visions. And once everyone got vaccinated, they all finally met up in-person for the first time in April.
“This acquisition is definitely not based on cost-cutting,” Kintzer told me. “There are no names on a list that are going anywhere. In fact, for the first year of the plan we put together, we’re actually going to spend additional money. Our goal in the first year is to move as quickly as possible.”
Longer term? Definitely look for more of this same deal activity from Trusted Media, which has a portfolio of user-generated and community-based lifestyle brands including Taste of Home, Family Handyman, and Reader’s Digest,
In Kintzer’s words: “Our intention is to build a billion-dollar media company.”
Deal highlights
Skogmo, meanwhile, founded Jukin in 2010. He built it around a mission of supplying safe and high-quality user-generated video content to the media, advertising and entertainment industries. That one word — “video” — is what Kintzer was especially keen on bringing more of into the Trusted Media fold.
Jukin’s properties include FailArmy, People Are Awesome, The Pet Collective, and WeatherSpy. And in 2020 alone, Jukin licensed more than 2,000 video clips for use in major advertising campaigns — as well as on TV and digital properties in almost 100 countries.
“We operate very similarly,” Skogmo told me, about both media companies. “We’re both profitable companies. Jukin Media has been profitable since Day One.” The company financed its growth mostly organically, expanding to multiple offices around the world.
“Everybody wants more eyeballs, and everybody’s competing for the same ad dollars,” he continued. “We realized that for us to grow and accelerate the way we wanted to, we decided we needed to find the right partner.”
Taking things “to the next level”
As part of Thursday’s acquisition announcement, both companies say that the combined entity will provide advertisers with even more potential to reach consumers across the web, social channels, CTV, OTT and print properties with “brand-safe, unique and authentic content.” Acquiring Jukin Media also quadruples Trusted Media Brands’ monthly audience reach and combines its portfolio of community-driven content properties whose audiences have increased 40% year over year.
The combined company will also have Trusted Media Brands’ commerce business that’s grown 75% over the past year. And speaking of Jukin Media, its portfolio of properties currently reaches more than 220 million fans online and already generates more than two billion minutes of video viewed each month across streaming TV and social media.
And adding Jukin Media’s portfolio to the Trust Media Brands wheelhouse strengthens the latter’s existing vertical coverage in food, home, lifestyle and wellness, also adding expertise in categories including pets, entertainment and humor.
“We have seen tremendous momentum across our web and social properties year over year, with video viewership and revenue at an all-time high.” said Trusted Media Brands president of digital Vince Errico. “In fact, video revenue outpaced video play growth due to strategic monetization efforts that are authentic to our brands. Jukin Media’s capabilities will take these strengths to the next level and pave the way for our future vision of what it means to be a leader in today’s media landscape.”
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August 12, 2021 at 09:30PM
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Reader's Digest Parent Buys Jukin Media In Quest To Become A ‘Billion-Dollar’ Company - Forbes
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