While some news sites have layoffs, biz news sites are thriving

Aaron Elstein of Crain’s New York writes about some business news websites that are thriving at a time when general news sites are struggling and have made layoffs.

Elstein writes, “Take Reorg, which provides news and analysis about corporate restructurings and bankruptcies to about 20,000 subscribers. The six-year-old publisher saw revenues reach about $34 million in 2017. Last year it joined Crain’s Fast 50 list of the quickest- growing New York businesses, and private-equity firm Warburg Pincus acquired a controlling stake in Reorg in a deal that valued it around $400 million.

“Then there’s Acuris, publisher of trade publications Debtwire and Mergermarket. In 2017 its owner, private- equity firm BC Partners, sold a 30% stake for about $350 million to Singapore’s GIC sovereign wealth fund. It has enlisted Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase to find a buyer for the rest. BC is looking for $1.3 billion, Bloomberg News reported.

“Don’t forget The Deal and BoardEx, which were sold for $87 million in December. That’s three times more than TheStreet paid to acquire them only a few years ago. The Deal specializes in news about business mergers, financings and restructurings; BoardEx is a database of information about board members, corporate executives and investment bankers.

“Notice a pattern? Outlets that appeal to the masses such as BuzzFeed and HuffPo are struggling. Publications that cater to the needs of a specific readership and do it well are doing just fine.”

Read more here.