LONDON: Digitalbox plc (AIM: DBOX) has entered into an agreement to acquire the online assets, including all associated intellectual property, of Walford News.
Walford News has been providing news, gossip and spoilers about the popular UK soap opera, Eastenders since 2009.
Digitalbox plc, the mobile-first digital media business, owns leading websites, including Entertainment Daily, The Daily Mash, The Tab, and Emmerdale Insider.
The acquisition, for a total consideration of £50,000, includes the purchase of the website www.walfordnews.com and associated online assets including the Walford East Facebook page with its c.475.000 followers. The assets all operate an audience-led, advertising-focused media model in common with Digitalbox.
Adding these assets to Digitalbox’s growing portfolio is intended to accelerate the Company’s “Verticals Strategy”. The strategy is to deliver highly targeted sites, based around the Group’s core competence, entertainment, that benefit from fan bases delivering the kind of ‘super engagement’ increasingly favoured by platforms, like Google and Facebook.
In August 2024, Company launched Emmerdale Insider, with further launches in the pipeline. The Company continues to eye further acquisition opportunities.
The acquired assets of Walford News have a highly complementary positioning with Digitalbox’s brand, Entertainment Daily. A five-month transitional services agreement with the vendor comes into effect from today to support the integration process. During the integration process, Digitalbox will align its content archives and editorial operations as it moves into 2025. In the 12 months to 30 November 2024, the assets being acquired generated revenue of less than 1% of Digitalbox’s revenue to 31 December 2023.