Global podcast company Audioboom has used the release of its half yearly results to announce that it has entered into a binding agreement for the acquisition of Adelicious “for an aggregate maximum consideration of up to £10 million”. In order to part-finance the acquisition, Audioboom proposes to raise £3m via a new share placement.
Adelicious is a UK focused podcast network which is home to many popular podcasts across comedy, entertainment, sport, history and culture. These include Sh**ged. Married. Annoyed. (“SMA”); Football’s Greatest with Jeff Stelling, Motherkind, Frank Off The Radio, Live Laugh Love, Real Dictators, The Teen Commandments, Russell Howard’s Five Brilliant Things, The Fast and the Curious and Paper Cuts.
According to Audioboom, the deal is expected to create the second largest podcast network in the UK and enable Audioboom “to capture significant share of the UK market’s untapped value”. Commenting on the deal, Audioboom CEO Stuart Last said: “I have long been an admirer of Adelicious. Our platform will help supercharge their growth with access to our sophisticated technology and expanded monetisation tools. We share the common goal of taking the best of British podcasting to the world.”
Andrew Goldsmith, president of Adelicious, added: “Audioboom is such a well-respected audio business, and we share the same philosophies, values, and vision for British podcasting. Adelicious has come a long way in five years, and we are all thrilled to be able to work alongside Audioboom to take British podcasting globally.”
Audioboom is currently the fifth biggest podcast network in the US, and has been building a global footprint ahead of the new acquisition. It said the US and UK podcast markets are “extremely fragmented” and that it wants to be “a cautious participant in the anticipated market consolidation”.
Drilling down into the rationale for the deal, Audioboom said: “The ambition is to become the UK’s largest podcast network by 2030. (We) believe that the UK market holds significant untapped potential creating a significant upside opportunity for Audioboom and Adelicious to capitalise on together as a scaled player.”
