Online entertainment publisher WhatCulture has been acquired by Bath-based Future Plc in an undisclosed deal.
The move means Gateshead-based WhatCulture – which runs 11 YouTube channels with over eight million subscribers – will benefit from Future’s technology.
About 70% of WhatCulture’s revenue comes from the United States, where Future has three offices.
Read more: Fenwick announces major investment in its Newcastle flagship store
The move is part of a dual acquisition that includes data analytics platform Waive, which specializes in providing insights into emerging content trends for publishers.
A statement from Future said: “This acquisition will expand Future’s Aperture data platform and enhance data science capabilities.
“Aperture is Future’s proprietary platform that gives advertisers access to Future’s rich proprietary audience data captured across its vast portfolio of brands, helping them reach high-intent target audiences.
Zillah Byng-Thorne, Managing Director of Future, said, “We are delighted to welcome both WhatCulture and Waive to Future. We look forward to working with WhatCulture to further diversify our content and revenue streams, and are particularly excited about the video monetization expertise and data analytics capabilities that Waive will bring to the group respectively.
Peter Willis, co-founder of WhatCulture said: “We are really excited to join an organization like Future which has been so successful. We have real synergies between our desire to create great original content for our audiences.
“Our YouTube expertise combined with their monetization and platform know-how will create great growth opportunities in this area and unlock real potential across the business.”
Over the past five years, Future has acquired assets worth £1.4 billion and in its financial year ending September 30, 2021, Future’s annual revenue increased by 79% to reach £606.8 million and operating profit reached £195.8 million. The company has previously said that FY22 earnings will beat expectations.
You can join the BusinessLive North East conversation at LinkedIn and Twitter
