FYI

UK media firm snaps up Asia and Australian digital business Next Commerce

Listed UK-based media group, Future, has acquired Australia and Southeast Asian digital shopping comparison business Next Commerce.

The announcement:

Future plc (LSE: FUTR, “the Group” or “Future”), the international media group and leading digital business, has acquired Next Commerce Pty Ltd (“Next Commerce”), a digital comparison shopping business with operations in Australia and across South East Asia, for an undisclosed cash consideration.


Future has rapidly growing e-commerce revenues in its UK and US businesses. This acquisition will enable Future to accelerate its growth in this region by leveraging its leading online media brands such as techradar.com, gamesradar.com and pcgamer.com.

Next Commerce operates the getprice.com.au and pricepanda.com comparison shopping websites across the Australia and South East Asia markets. getprice.com.au, originally founded in 2005, is Australia’s largest comparison shopping site with over 1,200 retailers using the site and over 2.8 million products listed. pricepanda.com was launched in Singapore in 2012 and now has sites in five countries and lists over 5.8 million products.

Zillah Byng-Thorne, Future Chief Executive, commented: “This acquisition further diversifies our revenue, an important element of our strategy. It will also strengthen our presence in e-commerce, which is increasingly becoming a key part of our business.

“Over the last two years, we have demonstrated the significant value that can be created through combining high-quality content that connects with a consumer focussed e-
commerce offering.

“We see good opportunities to grow by working closely with Next Commerce, who have developed market-leading e-commerce technology and practices for retailers, publishers and consumers in the fast growing Australian and SE Asian markets.”

Neville Daniels, Managing Director, Future Publishing APAC commented: “We are very much looking forward to bringing the Next Commerce team and brands alongside our existing consumer focussed destinations including techradar.com, gamesradar.com and pcgamer.com.”

Chris Hitchen, former Chairman of Next Commerce commented: “We are delighted that a business like Future plc has acquired Next Commerce. Their digital technology publications are highly relevant environments for retailers to show their products to a qualified audience and we are impressed at Future’s technology-driven approach to digital publishing as well as their understanding of ecommerce. We look forward to seeing Getprice and Pricepanda grow under Future’s ownership.”

Source: Future press release

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