Antwerp (B)/Atlanta (US) – The European media group Mediahuis and Mather Economics have entered into a strategic partnership. Mediahuis thereby acquires a 35% participation in the US-based agency. The investment envisaged by Mediahuis will facilitate an acceleration of Mather’s ambitious international growth plans. At the same time, this partnership means a further expansion of the Mediahuis portfolio within the fast-growing market of media technology and services.
As a business consultancy specialized in yield management, Mather Economics has grown over the past years into THE expert in the field of leading-edge, intelligent and predictive data analytics techniques aimed at maximizing the operating margins and revenues of its customers. In addition to industries such as e-commerce, sports, digital services, and telecom, Mather has developed an extensive expertise within the publishing industry, helping publishers to build and maintain more profitable long-term relationships with their subscribers and advertisers.
Mather Economics and the European media group Mediahuis are now entering into a strategic partnership in which Mediahuis acquires a 35% stake in Mather. The investment by Mediahuis will accelerate Mather’s ambitious international growth plans. Furthermore, Mediahuis’ experience and know-how with regard to the publishing business will make a real contribution to the further development of Mather’s customer-centric solutions, such as the Listener platform, a digital data capture platform that supports the analytics of online audiences and implements targeted customer acquisition, retention, and engagement campaigns. With this investment, Mediahuis is strengthening its position as a leading media company, and expanding its activities into the fast-growing market of media technology and services.
Paul Verwilt, COO of the Mediahuis Group: “Building valuable long-term relationships with readers is crucial for the publishing industry, which is characterized by an ever-decreasing fall in single copy sales. Nowadays, subscription models form a cornerstone for most publishers’ business models. As we see the readiness to pay for digital journalism growing, an optimal management of the customer journey and pricing strategy have become key. Mather’s experience in the area of subscription flows, subscriber yield management, pricing strategy optimization, customer loyalty and retention is of great added-value, not only for Mediahuis, but also for other publishers worldwide. Mediahuis firmly believes that capturing and managing customer data in a respectful and intelligent way will become increasingly important. The combination of Mather’s track record and Mediahuis’ vast network within the publishing industry will enable further international growth.
In addition to growth within the publishing industry, Mediahuis will support Mather’s entry into new industries where subscription models are gradually gaining access to the daily lives of consumers. European households spend around 5% of their total budget on subscription models such as telecom, music, television, food, etc. Mather’s expertise in providing data-driven solutions, predictive modeling and technical platforms can help those industries to grow their revenue streams as well.
Matt Lindsay, President of Mather Economics: “Mather has experienced significant growth in Europe in recent years. A strategic partnership with Mediahuis will enable us to improve our service to European clients in the publishing industry, and in other verticals who are growing their subscription revenue models. Mediahuis also provides Mather with access to experienced media technologists and developers, who will add capabilities and operational scale to our growing Listener toolset. We are excited about working together with the leadership of Mediahuis, who have a track record of successful business innovation and transformation. Combining the operational excellence and resources of Mediahuis with Mather’s analytical expertise will enable rapid growth for both firms, while supporting innovation within the news media industry.”
