WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dennis Publishing (Dennis), the leading international media group and publisher of The Week in the US and the UK, today announces that it has acquired Kiplinger Washington Editors, Inc. (Kiplinger), a market leader in business and personal finance information, in print and online.
Kiplinger, founded in 1920 in Washington, D.C. and run by three generations of the Kiplinger family, publishes the largest paid-subscription publications in several financial fields: business forecasting (the weekly Kiplinger Letter); taxes (the biweekly Kiplinger Tax Letter); retirement living (the monthly Kiplinger’s Retirement Report) and yield-oriented investing (the monthly Kiplinger’s Investing for Income).
Its most widely read products are Kiplinger’s Personal Finance, the 600,000-circulation monthly magazine which pioneered personal finance journalism in 1947, and Kiplinger.com, its website with four million unique visitors and more than 30 million page views per month.
Dennis is one of the most dynamic media organisations operating in the US and UK markets. Its portfolio of over 30 brands currently operates in four areas of excellence: Current Affairs, Technology, Automotive and Lifestyle, reaching over 50 million unique users and selling over 2.5 million magazines every month.
James Tye, Group CEO of Dennis, said: “Kiplinger is everything we look for in a business: It is blessed with strong brands that have developed a high degree of trust with their readers, allied to a vibrant, growing digital business. Kiplinger is run by an experienced leadership team that understand the value of authoritative and concise information in the finance category as well as the key role the various Kiplinger brands play in delivering excellent results for its advertising clients.”
Dennis currently owns The Week based in New York, which boasts over 550,000 paid-for print subscribers and 5.8 million monthly unique users to its award-winning current affairs website TheWeek.com. The Week is renowned for both its concise style and the unique balance it brings to an increasingly fragmented and divided news landscape. Dennis was acquired by one of the UK’s leading Private Equity firms, Exponent, in October 2018. Washington-based Kiplinger is the first acquisition that Dennis has made in the US since it changed ownership.
Tye continued: “Kiplinger is a great fit for Dennis. It expands our presence into the finance category, an area we already have an impressive footprint in with the The Week and MoneyWeek. It is also a business with strong, recurring, subscription revenues; Dennis stands out as a company that is built around brands that readers trust and want to buy. I look forward to working with Denise Elliott and her talented team to keep growing the relevance, reach and revenues of the Kiplinger business.”
Denise Elliott, Senior VP and Chief Operating Officer at Kiplinger, will step up to run Kiplinger as CEO from the company’s Washington DC headquarters and will become part of the Dennis Leadership Team.
Jack Griffin, Chairman of Dennis, said: “Dennis has deep expertise in developing and growing well-loved media brands, both in print and online. We see a significant opportunity to continue to grow our business through expanding our reach and reputation globally. The Kiplinger acquisition marks the beginning of our focus on expansion through launch and acquisition in the US, one of the largest and most exciting media markets in the world.”
Knight Kiplinger, 71, will remain Chairman of KWE’s former parent, Outlook, Inc., and will serve as an informal advisor to Kiplinger and Dennis on editorial content, with the title of Editor Emeritus. None of Outlook’s substantial real estate holdings in Maryland and Martin County, Fla., are part of the transaction, and will continue to be owned and managed by the Kiplinger family.
Knight Kiplinger, formerly Kiplinger’s Chairman and Editor in Chief, said “Dennis will be an excellent custodian of not just the Kiplinger business, but of our editorial integrity and focus on strong reader service.”
Kiplinger was represented in the transaction by Berkery Noyes & Co in New York, and assisted by the Washington law office of Venable. Dennis was legally represented by Travers Smith in London and Choate, Hall & Stewart in Boston, and assisted by Oaklins DeSilva & Phillips in New York.
About Dennis Publishing Group
Dennis Publishing Group (Dennis) comprises Dennis Publishing Ltd in the UK and The Week Publications Inc. in the US.
Dennis is one of the most dynamic media organisations, operating in the UK and US markets. Its portfolio of over 30 brands, operates in four areas of excellence: Current Affairs, Technology, Automotive and Lifestyle, reaching over 50 million unique users and selling over 2.5million magazines every month. Dennis has transformed its approach from its traditional print publishing roots to a multi-platform publishing and ecommerce business spanning both the UK and US, with a group turnover of over £190m.
Dennis brands include The Week, Money Week, Auto Express, Expertreviews.co.uk, BuyACar.co.uk, Cyclist and Viz.
Dennis holds the title of AOP Digital Publishing Company of the Year, 2016 & 2018, and British Media Awards Media Company of the Year 2016 & 2018. For more information, go to Dennis.co.uk.
The Week was launched in 2001 and is based in New York. It boasts over 550,000 paid-for print subscribers and 5.8m monthly unique users to its award winning current affairs website TheWeek.com.
About Kiplinger
Kiplinger was founded in 1920 by a former Associated Press economics reporter, W. M. Kiplinger (1891-1967), whose tersely written Kiplinger Washington Letter (launched in 1923) and Kiplinger Tax Letter (1925) became the prototypes for modern newsletter journalism and the most widely read newsletters in the world.
In 1947 W. M. Kiplinger and his son, Austin H. Kiplinger (1918-2015), launched Kiplinger Magazine, the first magazine to give its readers advice on their personal finances. Under the leadership of Knight Kiplinger, the company expanded into video, audio and online information in the 1990s, also launching new periodicals on retirement living and income investing.
In 2007, Kiplinger was named one of “America’s “Most Ethical Companies” by Ethisphere magazine, and Kiplinger’s Personal Finance won the 2009 General Excellence Award in the large-magazine category, from the Society of American Business Writers and Editors (SABEW). It has won or been a finalist for numerous online content honors, including MIN’s Best of the Web, EPPY and Webby awards.
About Exponent
Established in 2004, Exponent is one of the UK’s leading private equity firms, investing in companies with enterprise values between £100m and £400m. The company seeks to identify untapped potential and navigate complexity to unlock growth for its portfolio companies and investors. Its current and former investments in consumer media and publishing businesses include the Times Educational Supplement, Immediate Media and the Racing Post. A selection of Exponent’s other investments include Quorn Foods, Photobox Group, Loch Lomond Whisky, Big Bus Tours, the Ambassador Theatre Group and Trainline.
