THG Plc, the online health, beauty and wellness retailer, has agreed to buy UK business newspaper City AM.
City AM said the deal means that the nearly 18-year-old newspaper will “remain under UK ownership and give it the support of a partner with long-term aspirations and a strong balance sheet for growth,” in a post on its website on Wednesday.
No financial terms were disclosed, though THG is expected to pay in the low millions of pounds for the asset, people familiar with the matter said earlier.
The deal is a boon for the free newspaper, popular among London’s financial workers, which put itself up for sale earlier this month and had appointed administrators, Bloomberg reported previously. THG Chief Executive Officer Matt Moulding said in the City AM report that he’d “long been reviewing opportunities in the disruptive media space” and said it would link together with advertising technology for THG’s brand and e-commerce unit Ingenuity.
Read More: London Newspaper City AM Puts Itself Up for Sale
Synergies with THG will return City AM to profit and help connect THG with consumers, Moulding said in a LinkedIn post about the deal. The online retailer already spends “huge sums” at more than £200 million ($258 million) a year “speaking to consumers” and will benefit from City AM’s readers.
Moulding, who’s often publicly skeptical about press coverage for his business, said that City AM will keep its full editorial independence. “A lot of senior THG management are City AM readers,” the newspaper’s co-founder Lawson Muncaster said in an interview earlier on Wednesday.
“There’s a clear gap in the UK business media, one that supports and appreciates UK business, and is keen to see the UK improve our global competitiveness,” Moulding said on LinkedIn. “There will be just one rule for the future editorial direction of City AM: Where possible, be a cheerleader for both the UK and businesses alike, and don’t get dragged over to the dark side.”
City AM has a print circulation of more than 67,000 and an online readership of as many as 2 million per month. An email to City AM’s staff also said there was commercial logic for the deal because THG publishes digital magazines with a monthly circulation of 600,000.
The pending deal with THG was first reported by Sky News. City AM’s administrators, BDO LLP, also confirmed the sale to THG without providing additional details.