artsHub completes Screen Hub acquisition, powers into film and television sector

artsHub, the established market leader in the Australian arts market, has completed its first acquisition, expanding its dominance of the culture sector into fast-growing film and television segment.

The company will be one of the companies presenting at the Simon Baker/Wholesale Investor events in Melbourne on October 23 and in Sydney on October 24.

Arts Hub Holdings chairman Simon Baker said that: “The acquisition of Screen Hub brings together the two market leaders in the sector, creating an engine room for profitable growth while achieving genuine savings from synergies across both businesses.

“In an internet market crowded with low quality publications scraping by on pay-per-click advertising, both artsHub and Screen Hub have created premium services that preserve the holy grail of publications – a large, loyal base of paid subscribers, and a steady revenue stream from pre-sold display and classified advertising,” he said.

ArtsHub commenced operations in 2000, and has grown steadily to become the profitable market leader in the cultural sector. It is the main jobs board for the arts industries, and in addition provides original news content and special reports. Subscribers receive up to 5 emails per week.

Screen Hub was established in 2002 to serve professionals working in the Australian film and television industries. In common with artsHub, it is the main jobs board for its industry, while having a focus on finance and deal-making that complements artsHub’s cultural focus.

Since the acquisition of Screen Hub, the integration of the two companies has been rapid, with the first fruits of the merger due to go online in late October of this year with the launch of an integrated third-party member benefits package that includes a minimum 30% off every movie ticket purchased.

The new package will allow members to log in once to the Screen Hub or artsHub sites and purchase unlimited numbers of discount movie tickets online, with the tickets being delivered by email within minutes.

The tickets are valid for all the major cinema chains in Australia, and can be used for any film in, in any session.

“In FY 2012, artsHub delivered nearly $2m in revenues and was profitable,” Simon Baker said. “The acquisition of ScreenHub allows us to expand to a new industry segment while increasing the overall revenues and profitability of the company.”

The Simon Baker-Wholesale Investor events will be held in Melbourne on October 23 and in Sydney on October 24.