News Corp., the parent company of The Wall Street Journal and Barron’s announced Thursday that it has a deal to acquire Investor’s Business Daily for $275 million.
The newspaper has nearly 100,000 digital subscribers across its platforms, and minimal overlap with Dow Jones’s existing subscriber base. A majority of IBD’s annual revenues and profits come from the company’s investor tools, research and analysis products
IBD publishes a print edition once a week, in addition to investors.com, which reached an audience of 10.8 million average monthly unique visitors in February 2021, according to Adobe Analytics.
“IBD will greatly enhance our e-expertise in finance, with compelling digital coverage, unique tools and high-yielding services,” said News Corp. CEO Robert Thomson in a statement. “We will be able to cross-sell and up-sell with Dow Jones financial products and provide specialist insights for a knowing business audience.”
IBD, which has approximately 130 employees, launched as Investor’s Daily in 1984 when William J. O’Neil had been studying the best stocks of all time for 20 years, discovering seven common traits these stocks displayed just before they made their biggest gains.
The paper ended its five-days-per week publishing schedule in 2016 for the weekly print edition. It also acquired Marketsmith, a digital investing platform, and has increased subscribers — who pay $1,500 a year — by 15 percent to that service.
After the deal closes, IBD will continue to be based at its Los Angeles headquarters and will operate as a stand-alone brand as part of Dow Jones.
The deal is expected to close by June 30.
