Time Out Group buys out Australian licensee

Global media and entertainment business Time Out Group announced the acquisition of its Australian licensing partner Print and Digital Publishing, which runs Time Out in five cities in Australia.

The AIM-traded company said Time Out Australia was launched in 2007 to inspire and enable people to make the most of Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Adelaide and Brisbane, and had established a “leading digital portfolio” across online, mobile and social channels as well as highly-curated monthly magazines in Sydney and Melbourne.

It said the acquisition provided the group with further growth and monetisation opportunities across e-commerce, advertising and premium profiles.

The acquisition followed the addition of Time Out Hong Kong in March 2017 to the group's network of owned and operated businesses which now comprised 71 cities in 17 countries.

Including its licensing partners, Time Out has a worldwide presence in 108 cities across 39 countries.

“With the acquisition of Time Out Australia, we continue the global expansion of our iconic brand and our evolution as a worldwide digital, transactional business,” said CEO Julio Bruno.

“I am delighted to welcome a very successful and trusted licensing partner and its team to our network of owned and operated businesses.”

Bruno said Time Out was “hugely popular” amongst both locals and visitors to Australia and had built “considerable” brand awareness.

“We are all looking forward to continuing to grow the brand and help this engaged audience to discover, book and share the very best of Australia's cities with our unique, curated content and local expertise.”