Publisher adds 11 motoring magazines to growing portfolio
25/01/05 Future today announces that it has acquired the entire issued capital of A&S Publishing Company Limited (‘A&S’), for £5.95m, subject to a post completion adjustment (see note 1).
A&S publishes 11 motoring magazine titles. Seven are monthly consumer motoring titles, including Classic Ford, Fast Ford, Mini Magazine, Total Vauxhall, Retro Cars and Total BMW, one is bi-monthly, while two are targeted at the road transport industry and one at hobbyists.
In addition to the magazines, A&S also owns and operates eight national motoring events, the largest of which is TRAX (attracting 16,000 modified car enthusiasts). Held annually at Silverstone in September the event attracts over 16,000 car enthusiasts with the opportunity to view some of the best modified cars in the UK.
Commenting on the purchase, Robert Price, Managing Director of Future Publishing, said:
“This is another step in Future’s exciting growth phase and builds on the success of our own motoring title, Redline. The A&S magazine philosophy is very similar to our own -publishing high-quality, deeply targeted magazines for readers passionate about their subject.
“It’s an area we’ve been looking to expand into for some time and the A&S titles will give us immediate critical mass in the motoring segment. Additionally the events side of the business will open up many new commercial opportunities for us. We are delighted to welcome the publishing and editorial teams to Future and to add these titles and events to the Future portfolio.”
Future will now start a consultation process with existing A&S employees over the transfer to Future. No major changes are planned for the editorial content of the magazines, which will form part of Future’s Entertainment Group under the responsibility of Publishing Director Andy Semple and Group Publisher Peter Stothard. A&S Managing Director Peter Minnis will work with Future as a consultant during the transition period.
A&S is Future’s third acquisition in the past two months. On 1 December 2004 it announced that it had acquired What Laptop magazine from Crimson Publishing and on 6 December 2004 it announced the acquisition of Beach Publishing, which publishes Junior, Junior Pregnancy & Baby and Wedding Day.
For more information:
Future Publishing
Robert Price, Managing Director, tel: 01225 442244
Terri Davey, Communications, tel: 01225 822774
Will Guyatt, Communications,tel: 01225 822517
Notes to Editors
Note 1
The post completion adjustment is based on the Net Asset Value of the business following the preparation of completion accounts as at 24 January 2005.
About A&S Publishing
A&S was founded in the UK by Peter Minnis, with the backing of Forlags AB Albinsson & Sjoberg, Sweden’s largest publisher of motoring magazines. It commenced trading in London in 1985, publishing Trucking International (now called Trucking) before moving to Gloucester in 1988. In 1989 it acquired Fast Ford magazine and the Ford Fair event.
A&S’ other motoring magazines are: Classic Ford, Retro Cars, Total Vauxhall, Mini Magazine, GoMini, Total BMW, Total Car Audio.
A&S’ road transport magazines include Trucking and Truckstop News (free distribution – monthly).
It also owns and operates eight motoring events, the largest of which is TRAX. Held annually at Silverstone in September, TRAX attracts over 16,000 young car enthusiasts with the opportunity to view some of the best modified cars in the UK and also the chance for many to drive their own cars on the famous circuit. A&S’ other events are: Ford Fair, Mini in the Park, Performance Vauxhall Show, Classic Ford Show, Total BMW Show, Japfest and Retro Cars Show.
About Future
Future Publishing is the fifth largest magazine publisher in the UK by retail sales value. It was founded in the UK in 1985 and is part of The Future Network plc. Today, The Future Network publishes over 100 regular special-interest consumer magazines worldwide.
The Future Network employs around 1,100 people in offices in the UK, US, France and Italy. Over 100 international editions of Future’s magazines are also published under licence in 30 other countries across the world. The company is listed on the London Stock Exchange (symbol: FNET).
