News Corp is acquiring the 37-year-old Investor’s Business Daily (IBD) from O’Neil Capital Management for $275m The digital-first financial news and research business, based in Los Angeles, California, will be operated by News Corp subsidiary Dow Jones, publisher of the Wall Street Journal (WSJ).
IBD (which has 100k digital subscribers) was founded by William J. O’Neil in 1984 and has experienced double-digit revenue growth over the past several years, with digital representing 90% of IBD’s revenue. A majority of profit comes from its investor tools, research and analysis products. It publishes a weekly print edition in addition to its online offering which has almost 11m monthly uniques.
Dow Jones’ paywall has helped to drive digital subscriptions growth. In the quarter ending December 31, 2020, it achieved its highest quarterly EBITDA since 2007, with traffic increasing by 48%. In addition to WSJ, it publishes MarketWatch, Barron’s and Mansion Global.
The IBD acquisition is expected to complete within the next three months.
