Tag: the nikkei

Posted on

FT parent Nikkei confirms it has acquired new media startup Deal Street Asia

It’s official: Nikkei, the Japanese media firm that owns the FT, has confirmed that it has acquired Singapore-based new media startup Deal Street Asia. (The Nikkei announcement is buried behind a paywall — make of that what you will!)

The deal is undisclosed, but the announcement does confirm a TechCrunch report from last month which broke news of the impending acquisition.

Deal Street Asia covers a mix of news from Asia’s financial markets, business verticals and startups… which I guess makes it a competitor to us here at TechCrunch. Like TechCrunch, it also runs an events business — its main show in Singapore in September costs upwards of $1,000 and features senior executives from the likes of DBS, Grab, Sea, GGV, Allianz and IFC.

Initially, we reported that the deal valued Deal Street Asia at around the $5 million mark, but we now understand that the valuation is between $5 million and $10 million. The arrangement will see Nikkei take a majority stake in the business, which includes buying out existing investors and making a separate capital investment into Deal Street Asia worth around $3 million, according to what we’ve heard.

Launched in 2014, Deal Street Asia never disclosed its funding total, but its backers include Singapore Press Holdings, North Base Media, Alpha JWC, K2 VC, SGAN and Hindustan Times, the Indian media firm that operates Mint which is a Deal Street Asia content partner. Its Angel investors include Vijay Shekhar Sharma — the founder of Alibaba-backed Paytm — the Singapore Angel Network and Rogers Holdings chairman Jim Rogers.

Deal Street Asia confirmed that all of those agreed to sell with the exception of Mint which “continues to be a minority shareholder.” We understand that all investors enjoyed a positive outcome from the deal, so Mint’s continued involvement is down to strategy not any kind of issue on Deal Street Asia’s side, a source disclosed.

Nikkei said its capture of Deal Street Asia will “deepen its coverage of the Asian startup ecosystem and tech industries, the fastest-growing sectors in the region” and boost its ScoutAsia news and data offering.

Indeed, it looks like you can expect to see links form between Deal Street Asia and Nikkei media properties.

“Joining forces with Nikkei will help us accelerate our mission of helping the PE-VC industry and dealmakers understand the changing megatrends in this space. As we expand our reportage across Asia, we look forward to greater collaboration across Nikkeiʼs publications and group of companies such as the FT, Nikkei Asia Review and scoutAsia,” read a statement from Deal Street Asia founder and editor-in-chief Joji Thomas Philip.

The deal follows Nikkei’s majority share acquisition of The Next Web [disclaimer: my former employer] in March. As we previously reported, both of those acquisitions are part of a new subscription media strategy that Nikkei is hatching:

This is far from it for the FT in terms of deals. TechCrunch understands that the company is actively seeking acquisition and investment opportunities in media startups across the world. Beyond augmenting its existing events business, one source told TechCrunch that the FT is considering a new media subscription business, which could bundle together some of its acquisitions. That’s very much an ongoing work in progress as it seeks additional deals to plump up that potential subscription offering.

Keep an eye out for more deals, we certainly will!

Posted on

The FT is buying another media startup: Deal Street Asia

Fresh from picking up a majority stake in Europe-based The Next Web, the Financial Times is buying another tech blog. The newspaper, which was founded in 1888, is adding Singapore-based Deal Street Asia to its roster with a deal expected to close in April, according to three sources with knowledge of discussions.

Founded in 2014 by Indian journalists Joji Thomas Philip and Sushobhan Mukherjee, Deal Street Asia mixes Asia startup news with updates from Asia’s financial markets and business verticals. It has around a dozen reporters across Southeast Asia and India, as well as a license to use content from wires. Its investors include Singapore Press Holdings, Vijay Shekhar Sharma, the founder of Alibaba-backed Paytm, the Singapore Angel Network and Hindustan Times, the Indian media firm that operates Mint, which is a Deal Street Asia content partner.

The company never disclosed its total fundraising, although TechCrunch wrote about an undisclosed round that closed in late 2015.

The deal is led by Nikkei, the Japanese parent of the FT, which has agreed to buy at least one-third of Deal Street Asia, one source told TechCrunch, but the total stake could reach 51 percent (as was the case with The Next Web) depending on which investors decide to sell. A separate source said the investment is worth at least $5 million. That would represent a positive return for all investors with early backers potentially banking 4-5X. That’s a pretty handsome result for an investment in a media business, which are often efforts to spark an ecosystem or at least include a lower expectation on a return.

“The FT is not involved in plans to acquire Deal Street Asia,” an FT spokesperson told TechCrunch.

Deal Street Asia declined to comment. At the time of writing, Nikkei’s press department had not responded to a request for comment that was sent yesterday at 20:31 Japanese time.

TechCrunch understands that the deal for Deal Street Asia will be similar to that of The Next Web. That’s to say that one of the primary interests is adding the company’s events business to its roster to help to break into the conference scene in Southeast Asia.

Deal Street Asia’s events are targeted at a business crowd. For example, its main summit in Singapore in September costs upwards of $1,000 and features senior executives from the likes of DBS, Grab, Sea, GGV, Allianz and IFC.

The startup uses a subscription business for its website, which is priced upwards of $89 for three months of complete access. Its paywall is a selective one that keeps some stories locked for subscribers, whilst others are left open for all readers.

Deal Street Asia’s upcoming Asia PE-VC Summit takes place in Singapore in September

This far from it for the FT in terms of deals. TechCrunch understands that the company is actively seeking acquisition and investment opportunities in media startups across the world. Beyond augmenting its existing events business, one source told TechCrunch that the FT is considering a new media subscription business which could bundle some of its acquisitions together. That’s very much an ongoing work in progress as seeks additional deals to plump up that potential subscription offering.

Aside from The Next Web and Deal Street Asia, the FT has acquired content startup AlphaGrid, intelligence service GIS Planning and research firm Longitude. The FT itself was bought by Nikkei from previous owner Pearson for $1.3 billion in 2015.

Disclaimer: The author is a former employee of The Next Web