Adstream sells Little Black Book, merges with Malaysia’s Asia on Time
Advertising campaign delivery company Adstream has sold Little Black Book, the production and advertising news portal, after two and a half years in business together.
The split came after both parties agreed that their businesses were not the right fit.
Adstream Australia boss Peter Miller told Mumbrella: “As a big investor in automation technologies, LBB was determined to be non-core. We are unloading everything we have into new tech, services and markets.”
LBB founder Matt Cooper added: “As we’re expanded as a business we’ve looked to get closer to the creative market. When we merged with Adstream our traffic grew massively and the business grew too, but the fit wasn’t quite right for us.”
The news comes as Adstream has merged with Malaysian tech firm Asia on Time.
The combined entity will now be run from Kuala Lumpur, and led by Asia on Time’s Christine Sterk as CEO. She will be leading the roll out of delivery and asset management of all media, which includes cinema, TV, radio, outdoor, newspapers and digital, across all Asian markets.
Adstream-AOT has around 50 staff in Asia in its operations in India, Hong Kong and Singapore. The company plans to launch in Thailand and Indonesia, Sterk told Mumbrella.
Gabrielle Lott
Separately, the Hong Kong-based editor of Little Black Book, Gabrielle Lott, has left the company, leaving the online directory brand without a presence on the ground in Asia.
Lott has since joined the international arm of Australian telco Telstra as digital communications manager, based in Hong Kong.
Cooper told Mumbrella that the company would not be looking for a replacement editor in Hong Kong, but is looking to re-enter Asia through a partnership in another market. He would not reveal which country LBB would be setting up in, or the partners he’s in talks with.
LBB, which is now setting up offices in New York and LA, was founded in 2009 as a specialised resources directory for ad agencies and production companies.
Adstream was formed 10 years ago in Sydney by James Carpenter, Gerard Barron and Richard Carter. The company now has offices in Hong Kong and Singapore as well as the Americas and Europe.
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