A day after Vinyl picked up Pedestrian.TV for a song in Nine’s version of a corporate council cleanup, the Richard White-backed media group is snapping up a profitable franchise, Time Out Australia, for “nominal consideration”.
Vinyl Group (ASX:VNL), backed by Wisetech founder Richard White, was in a trading halt, and has raised an additional $2.4 million, at $0.054 per share, a 10% discount on the June 5 closing price.
The company says the raise was led by a unnamed “cornerstone and Top 10 shareholder, with additional institutional support”. White owns around 40% of the media and music tech business.
Vinyl will take control of Print & Digital Publishing Pty Ltd and its brand Time Out Australia, which operates as digital site with events, later this month as part of a franchise agreement, initially for five years, with current owner, Time Out England (TOE). In return Vinyl will pay ongoing revenue royalties with a minimum annual guarantee.
The company said Time Out Australia has been profitable and is expected to be earnings accretive in FY27, with a positive contribution to Vinyl Group’s EBITDA forecast on a pro forma basis.
The latest acquisition comes just 24 hours after Vinyl announced it had snapped up Nine Digital company Pedestrian Group for “nominal consideration” with no other cash, debt, scrip or ongoing royalties involved.
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Pedestrian.TV, founded in 2005 by Chris Wirasinha and Oscar Martin, was valued at $100 million at its peak. Nine paid $9.3M in 2015 for 60%, and in 2018, another $39.3M for the remaining 40%.
$2.4m raised
Vinyl’s $2.4 million raise will go towards integration costs, working capital and near-term operational initiatives involving the Time Out Australia acquisition and portfolio, which includes Concrete Playground, which it acquired in late 2024 for $5 million, BuzzFeed, Rolling Stone AU/NZ and Mediaweek.
In March, Vinyl spent $10.5 million to acquire Val Morgan Digital, which publishes publishes a range of online US media brands under licence, from Hoyts.
Vinyl Group CEO Josh Simons, said the Time Out deal is a “highly strategic acquisition” of one of the world’s most iconic culture brands
“ime Out strengthens our position at the intersection of content and real-world experiences, and expands our reach into high-value audiences across Australia,” he said.
“It is another important step in building a scaled, premium publishing platform.”
Vinyl also owns blockchain music startup Serenade, music credits database Jaxsta, the Tinder-style musician social network Vampr.
The company is now forecasting that it will double consolidated revenue in FY2027 to $37-$40 million, with earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation of $3.5 million, Vinyl’s first EBITDA-positive year.
Vinyl shares resumed trade today, rising $0.001 of a cent to $0.061.
