Sources Say “Money.com” Sold for $20M; Net’s Seller Double Without Print Product
PALM BEACH, FL – The Internet domain name “Money.com” and its live website was all that was left when failed Money Magazine ceased printing its tangible physical copies last July. The entire business was for sale including its 400,000 or so monthly subscribers for $10 million by it’s owners Meredith Corp, publishers of newspapers, magazines, television stations and websites; with no buyer in sight, they ceased print and planned to focus only on its digital edition; lo and behold, a sale was still on the mind.
We have decided not to sell the brand. Instead we are going to invest in the digital money.com brand site itself as well as leverage the money content across our portfolio,” a Meredith spokesman said. “We are ceasing publication of money magazine effective with the June/July issue.”
According to a story in the New York Post, the surviving asset “Money.com” has now been sold for what is believed to be just over $20 million to recent startup Practitioners LLC, a digital advertising firm based in Dorado, Puerto Rico. Practitioners was formed in 2016, by Greg Powel (formally of Google) and Sam Niccolls (formally of SEO company Moz).
We are pleased to find a great home for the Money brand and wish all parties great success under the new ownership,” said Meredith chief development officer John Zieser in a statement. “We continue to make significant progress on our asset sales and expect to shortly announce additional transactions at attractive multiples.”
Although the exact price was undisclosed, if NY Post’s sources close to the transaction are correct on the “just over $20 million” number, the sale of the digital asset by itself will have netted Meredith $10 million more than what the company was seeking earlier this year when it was trying to sell Money.com in tandem with the print edition.
The magazine and domain name became an asset of Meredith back in January 2018 as part of a $2.8 billion acquisition of Time (magazine). Just more than a year later Meredith began looking to off-load the Money brand for $10 million. When no buyer stepped up to the plate, in April 2019 the publishing group decided to cease publication of print and go all digital.
Money magazine was originally founded in 1972. The sale included only the “MONEY.com” website, which averages 4 million monthly unique visitors. The printed magazine’s remaining 400,000 subscribers were transferred to Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine in August 2019. The sites remaining 14 employees who will remain Meredith employees, are guaranteed their jobs only till January 31, 2020.
About The Author: John Colascione is Chief Executive Officer of SEARCHEN NETWORKS®. He specializes in Website Monetization, is a Google AdWords Certified Professional, authored a how-to book called ”Mastering Your Website‘, and is a key player in several online businesses.
