#News Corp. to buy Investors Business Daily for $275M

News Corp. on Thursday said it has agreed to buy Investors Business Daily for $275 million, a deal that will beef up the company’s portfolio of financial news publications.

IBD, which is being sold by O’Neil Capital Management, will continue with its 130 employees headquartered in Los Angeles and it will continue as a standalone operation within News Corp.’s Dow Jones division, which owns the Wall Street Journal, as well as Barron’s and MarketWatch. News Corp. also owns the New York Post.

IBD has a revenue base that is almost entirely digital, representing nearly 100,000 digital subscribers across its platforms, and minimal overlap with Dow Jones’ existing subscriber base, News Corp. said.

“IBD will greatly enhance our e-expertise in finance, with compelling digital coverage, unique tools and high-yielding services,” News Corp. CEO Robert Thomson said. “We will be able to cross-sell and up-sell with Dow Jones financial products and provide specialist insights for a knowing business audience.”

The publication has a weekly print edition and reached an audience of 10.8 million average monthly unique visitors in February, according to Adobe Analytics. Its IBD/TIPP poll in 2016 was one of the few national polls to predict a Donald Trump victory. In 2020 it forecast Joe Biden’s win.

“Dow Jones and the Wall Street Journal reported record profits in the last quarter and I have no doubt that IBD’s savvy digital products and journalism will significantly bolster profitability at the Dow Jones segment,” Thomson added.

“This transformative deal obviously comes as investor interest is surging in stock and bond markets and there is a premium for intelligence, insight and integrity.”