UK youth publisher LadBible is considering a stock market listing. The company was founded by then uni students Solly Solomou and Arian Kalantari in 2012, and has grown into a profitable company generating almost 30bn views annually. IN 2019, the company had revenue of £29.0m (2018: £20.4m) and EBITDA of £5.7m (£4.9m). Most of its revenues are from advertising and e-commerce.
The putative IPO valuation is thought to be in the region of £350-400m, although – with ambitions for the US – LadBible might well fetch up to £500m. A decision to float has not yet been taken.
The company is still controlled by co-founder Solly Solomou. The two key brands are LADbible and UNILAD, the latter having been acquired in 2018. There is also a female-oriented brand Tyla.
All the LadBible properties publish light-hearted news and entertainment content, and their reach into youth markets is drawing the attention of prospective buyers as traditional media seeks to reach ‘new’ audiences. Hence, the our own speculation that the UK’s largest newspaper publisher Reach Plc would swoop. Perhaps they will.
