Weekly Publishing Notes: News Corp Acquires Video Distribution Platform Unruly, NYT Declares Dividend

September 21st, 2015 by Trefis Team
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The publishing companies saw significant activity this week, with News Corp announcing that it will acquire Unruly Holdings Limited, a video distribution platform that efficiently tracks video sharing, delivers verifiable video views and predicts the potential of videos to go viral across different formats. On a separate note, New York Times announced a quarterly dividend of $0.04 to be paid in October. On that note, we discuss below these developments related to the publishing companies over the past few days.

News Corp News Corp Acquires Video Distribution Platform Unruly

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News Corp (NASDAQ:NWSA) announced Wednesday that it has struck a deal to acquire Unruly Holdings Limited. [1] Unruly is a video distribution platform which was founded in 2006. The company can efficiently track video sharing and deliver verifiable video views via paid media across desktops, tablets and mobile. Unruly also has the capability to predict which video ads can go viral using historical sharing behavior along with its powerful data set and sophisticated targeting capabilities. News Corp is reportedly shelling out $90 million in cash for Unruly, payable at the closing of the deal, and might have to pay up to $86 million in the future contingent upon the achievement of certain performance objectives. Unruly has 200 employees spread across 15 offices. The company will continue to be run by its three co-founders post deal, and will function as a separate unit reporting to News UK chief Rebekah Brooks.

News Corp will begin to integrate Unruly products into its portfolio in the coming months and will offer the same to its various advertising and agency partners. News Corp hopes that this will lead to a significant jump in premium video and mobile inventory, and improved returns for the company’s advertisers. The acquisition is expected to benefit News Corp’s multiple business segments, including the fast-growing realtor.com in the US, HarperCollins Publishers, News America Marketing and Fox Sports in Australia.

News Corp’s stock gained around 1.2% over the week through Thursday. We currently have a price estimate of $18 for News Corp. For the year 2015, we estimate revenues of $8.64 billion, compared to consensus estimate of $8.62 billion, and EPS of $0.52, compared to a consensus estimate of $0.54.

New York Times Company Announces Quarterly Dividend

The New York Times Company (NYSE:NYT) recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.04 per share on the Company’s Class A and Class B Common Stock. [2] The dividend will be payable on October 22 to stockholders of record at the close of business on October 7. The company had paid a similar dividend to its shareholders on February 19 and June 11 and is on track to pay an annualized dividend of $0.16 in 2015, giving it a forward yield of 1.32%. [3] [4] In its most recent earnings, The New York Times Company reported improvement in circulation revenue due to growth of digital subscription initiatives. Growth in digital subscription also resulted in cost declines, which outpaced the decrease in overall revenues. Digital ads revenues grew by 14% while print ads declined by 12.8%. [5] Overall revenues declined by just 1.5% year over year to $382.9 million from $388.7 million.

The New York Times Company’s stock gained around 1.7% over the week through Thursday. We currently have a price estimate of $12.69 for New York Times Company. For the year 2015, we estimate revenues of $1.57 billion, in line with the consensus estimate, and EPS of $0.55, compared to a consensus estimate of $0.53.

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Notes:
  1. News Corp To Acquire Social Video Ad Platform Unruly, September 16, 2015, Business Wire [↩]
  2. The New York Times Company Declares Regular Quarterly Dividend, September 17, 2015, New York Times Press Release [↩]
  3. The New York Times Company Declares Regular Quarterly Dividend, February 19, 2015, New York Times Press Release [↩]
  4. The New York Times Company Declares Regular Quarterly Dividend, June 11, 2015, New York Times Press Release [↩]
  5. New York Times’ SEC Filings [↩]