Business Plus magazine sold to Irish Daily Mail owner

Irish Daily Mail owner DMG Media Group has bought Business Plus magazine, marking a push into the business-to-business sector.

The deal, which has been in train for several months, will help Business Plus to reach a wider audience, boosting its digital offering and continuing to develop the print side of the business.

The value of the deal was not disclosed, but industry insiders said it was likely in the region of €500,000. Although the acquisition was largely agreed last September, it had to be approved by Irish competition authorities.

Publisher and editor Nick Mulcahy and marketing director Siobhán O'Connell, who set up the magazine in 1997, will continue to lead the magazine and website under the new owners.

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“Joining DMG Media is a very exciting development in the journey of Business Plus. As well as the digital opportunity, DMG is also enthusiastic about the printed magazine,” Ms O’Connell said. “The future of Business Plus magazine and Businessplus.ie is in great hands, and we’re looking forward to creating a fresher look and reaching a wider audience as part of the DMG network.”

First on the agenda is a new website, which Mr Mulcahy said would be ready to go in a few weeks, with more content expected to go online as the company seeks to build market share in the B2B space.

“They’re not forgetting about the magazine. It brings in more revenue than the website and will continue to do so,” Mr Mulcahy said, adding that the magazine would benefit from its ties to a company with a full-time circulation director.

Circulation

The magazine has about 6,500 subscribers, down from a circulation of 9,000 in 2019 before the pandemic hit. The decline is partly due to a reduction in bulk sales, with Business Plus’s previous target markets of hotels and airlines largely shutting down for several months at a time during the pandemic.

However, the magazine and website will retain its own voice and brand. “The strategy in DMG is to build up a network of audiences for Irish advertisers and brands,” Mr Mulcahy said. “They’re very much looking to the cookie-less future.”

DMG Media Group owns Extra.ie, Mail Online, Evoke, RollerCoaster.ie, OneFabDay, Geek Ireland, the Irish Daily Mail and the Irish Mail on Sunday.

"The addition of Ireland's premier business magazine to our portfolio means that we can extend our audience reach from the consumer to the important business sector," said Paul Henderson, chief executive of DMG Media Ireland. "Business Plus is an iconic brand which has been professionally managed by its founders Nick and Siobhán for 24 years. We are committed to supporting the talented team and their plans for the future as they bring to us great insight and deep understanding of their audience which they have amassed over the years."