NZME acquires BusinessDesk to supercharge digital growth

MARKET ANNOUNCEMENT




30 November 2021


NZME acquires BusinessDesk to supercharge digital
growth and create NZ’s premier business offerings

AUCKLAND, 30 November 2021: NZME Limited (NZX: NZM, ASX: NZM) (“NZME”) is pleased
to announce that its subsidiary NZME Publishing Limited has entered into a conditional
agreement to acquire the BusinessDesk premier news website business and assets
(“BusinessDesk”) from publisher Content Limited for NZD$3.5 million payable in cash on
completion, subject to customary adjustments plus an earn-out amount of up to NZD$1.5
million following 31 December 2023.
“NZME’s acquisition of BusinessDesk will help supercharge their growth and realise the full
potential of the opportunity to support New Zealand’s business community. The BusinessDesk
team should be proud of what they have created in a short period of time. NZME will be able
to provide both BusinessDesk and NZ Herald Premium subscribers with incredibly
comprehensive and trusted business news to its consumer and business customers,” said NZME
CEO Michael Boggs.
Since launching a subscription only business and economic news service in early 2020,
BusinessDesk has experienced substantial growth, both in the depth and breadth of its content
offering and also its subscriber base, with over 10,000 digital subscribers.
“Covid-19 has created many challenges, but it has also revealed a strong appetite for high
quality, trusted news and analysis aimed at business owners, investors, professional services
providers and political and policy decision-makers,” said Pattrick Smellie, editor and chief
executive of BusinessDesk.
“By combining with NZME’s strong digital publishing experience, subscription growth expertise
and international partnerships, along with the sales, marketing, and management strength that
it can bring to bear, we are creating the potential to supercharge BusinessDesk’s growth in
ways that we could not otherwise achieve.”
The sale is conditional on:
 No material adverse change occurring;
 Transfer of employees and contractors to operate the business;
 Shareholder approval of Content Limited’s shareholders; and
 Satisfactory engagement with the Commerce Commission in relation to the transaction.

The transaction is expected to complete in the first part of next year.
NZME has confirmed that all current BusinessDesk employees will be offered roles with NZME,
resulting in an anticipated total of 35 experienced business journalists across the BusinessDesk
and New Zealand Herald Business teams – seeing NZME be home to two of New Zealand’s most
well-resourced and experienced business editorial teams in New Zealand.
The BusinessDesk brand will be retained as a premium subscription offering.

With some of the most well-resourced business teams in the country, NZME will deliver
unrivalled, in-depth coverage of all of the big business stories as well as all the insights,
commentary, and analysis that’s valued by business decisionmakers from the big end of town
through to the mass of Kiwi small businesses and sole-traders.
“Since launching NZ Herald Premium we’ve been extremely pleased by the value that the New
Zealand business community has placed in accessing quality journalism. With BusinessDesk
operating alongside and complementary to NZ Herald Business we’ll be delivering an even
better service to all our business readers across both platforms, and further delivering on our
2023 Strategic Goals, as recently shared at NZME’s Investor Day” said NZME CEO, Michael
Boggs.
About BusinessDesk
BusinessDesk employs many of New Zealand’s best business journalists. Since launching its
subscription news service in early 2020, BusinessDesk has experienced substantial growth and
now has many of New Zealand’s top corporates and government departments as subscribers
as well as thousands of individuals. Originally a business newswire, an investment by renowned
business commentator and Milford Asset Management co-founder Brian Gaynor allowed the
business to successfully pivot to a paid subscription / hard paywall model in sync with a general
trend towards willingness to pay for high quality news.
About NZME
New Zealand Media and Entertainment (NZME) is an integrated media company, with a
portfolio of market leading news, entertainment and real estate brands strategically
positioned across a network of digital, print and audio platforms.
With an audience of 3.4 million New Zealanders, NZME supports commercial partners to grow
customer engagement with a data driven, audience and customer centric approach. NZME is
listed on the NZX Main Board (code NZM) with a foreign exempt listing on the ASX (code NZM).
ENDS

Authorised by Michael Boggs, CEO.

For further information:
David Mackrell
Chief Financial Officer
T: +64 21 311 911
Email: david.mackrell@nzme.co.nz

For media enquiries:
Kate Grant
NSPR
T: +64274220079
Email: kate@nsprltd.com