24 March 2022

Future plc

Acquisitions of WhatCulture.com & Waive

Future plc (LSE: FUTR; "Future" or "the Group"), the global platform for specialist media, today announces the acquisition of WhatCulture.com, a digital-only entertainment publisher and Waive, a data insight platform.

WhatCulture is a digital-only brand focused on the gaming and entertainment market. WhatCulture's website and 11 YouTube channels have respectively 3m users (source: GoogleAnalytics) and over 8m subscribers, and c.70% of its revenue is from the US.

This acquisition further strengthens Future's position in video, notably with its expertise in the monetisation on YouTube. WhatCulture will benefit from the Future proprietary technology stack and operating model to drive the platform effect whilst bolstering Future's gaming and entertainment vertical.

Waive is a data insight platform which provides intelligence on emerging content trends. This acquisition will extend Future's "Aperture" data platform and enhanced data science capabilities. Aperture is Future's proprietary platform that allows advertisers to access Future's rich first-party audience data captured across its vast portfolio of brands, helping them reach high-intent target audiences. 

Zillah Byng-Thorne, Chief Executive, 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 we are particularly excited about the video monetisation expertise and data insight capabilities that WhatCulture and Waive will bring to the Group respectively."

Enquiries

Future plc

Zillah Byng-Thorne, Chief Executive Officer        +44 (0)1225 442244

Penny Ladkin-Brand, Chief Financial Officer

Marion Le Bot, Head of Investor Relations          +44(0)7775 641509

Media

Headland                                                          +44 (0) 20 3805 4822

Stephen Malthouse, Rob Walker, Charlie Twigg

future@headlandconsultancy.com

Legal Entity Identifier (LEI): 213800K2581YRLEXV353

About Future

Future is a global platform business for specialist media with diversified revenue streams. Its content reaches 1 in 2 adults online in the UK and 1 in 3 in the US.

The Media division is high-growth with complementary revenue streams including eCommerce for products and services, events, and digital advertising (including advertising within newsletters and video). It operates in a number of sectors including technology, games & entertainment, music, home & gardens, sports, TV & film, real life, knowledge, wealth & savings, women's lifestyle and B2B. Its brands include TechRadar, PC Gamer, Tom's Guide, Android Central, Truly, The Week, Kiplinger, GoCompare, Digital Camera World, Homebuilding & Renovating Show, GamesRadar+, The Photography Show, Top Ten Reviews, Marie Claire, Live Science, Guitar World, MusicRadar, Space.com, What to Watch, Gardening Etc, Adventure and Tom's Hardware.

The Magazine division focuses on publishing specialist content, with a combined global circulation of over 3 million delivered through more than 131 magazines, and 735 bookazines published a year. The portfolio spans technology, knowledge, games & entertainment, sports, music, photography & design, homes & garden, country lifestyle, TV & film and B2B. Its titles include Country Life, Wallpaper*, Woman & Home, The Week, Classic Rock, Decanter, Guitar Player, FourFourTwo, Homebuilding & Renovating, Digital Camera, Guitarist, How It Works, Total Film, What Hi-Fi? and Music Week.