Who What Wear has a strong social presence and diverse revenue streams ranging from digital advertising to eCommerce. According to Future, Who What Wear has 12m online users and 10m social followers, with c.90% of its revenue derived from the US.
The acquisition further strengthens Future's position in the Women's Lifestyle vertical and gives the Group greater scale and reach in North America to further monetise its audience. Combined with the Group's existing business, Future says it will become the 6th largest Beauty and Fashion publisher in the US. It is expected that the transaction will accelerate Future's scale and revenue opportunities in the US.
The Group's existing Women's Lifestyle brands will benefit from Who What Wear's leading direct advertising sales capabilities, whilst Who What Wear will benefit from Future's proprietary technology stack and operating model to drive the platform effect.
The acquisition will be funded from the Group's existing debt facilities. Following the acquisition, leverage is expected to remain at under 2x EBITDA, says Future. Further financial details will be provided at the Group's interim results on the 18 May 2022.
Zillah Byng-Thorne, Chief Executive, said: “We are delighted to welcome the Who What Wear team to Future. We look forward to working with them to further bolster our Women's Lifestyle scale and reach, notably in the US, and are excited about leveraging its scale with our proprietary technology and operating model.”
The Who What Wear business will continue to be led by President Brianna Mobrem, Chief Revenue Officer Shayna Kossove, and Chief Content Officer and co-founder Hillary Kerr. Kerr also hosts the Second Life podcast, which reportedly has over 18 million downloads to date and will remain part of the Who What Wear enterprise.
Hillary Kerr said: “Since our launch in 2006, Who What Wear has been and will continue to be a pioneer in every form of digital content, from website and social media to live stream shopping, podcasts, and more. We have created a sustainable brand and are excited about the next stage in our growth trajectory as we build our scale and presence as part of Future.”
Completion of the acquisition is conditional upon, among other things, expiration of the applicable waiting period under the U.S. Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976.
As previously announced, Future will publish its interim results for the six months to 31 March 2022 on Wednesday 18 May 2022.
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