Sublime Group Ltd to acquire Newsroom from NZX

Media Release – Friday 24 January

Sublime Group Ltd to acquire Newsroom from NZX

Sublime Group Ltd is increasing its presence in the media business by seeking to acquire NewsRoom from NZX, says Craig Pellett, CEO of Sublime Group (www.sublimegroup.net). The NewsRoom acquisition is expected to be formally completed shortly.

“Our acquisition of NewsRoom is designed to support our recent investment in and restructuring plans for Scoop Holdings Ltd, which owns Scoop.co.nz,” says Craig Pellett.

“The acquisition is a clear indication that we are committed to being a serious player in the online media sector in New Zealand.”

“NewsRoom is both separate from but also highly complementary to Scoop’s suite of products and when the two are formally aligned under a common legal and management structure together they will provide a strong foundation for future growth. That is our intention, subject to agreement by the board and shareholders of Scoop Holdings Ltd,” he says.

The subscriber-based service provided to NewsRoom customers will continue on a business as usual basis. The service allows readers to track and aggregate relevant news from more than 150 different newswire sources and provides an archive of more than half-a-million news stories. Its customers include media organisations, legal and accounting firms, large corporations, government departments, and parliamentary offices.

Craig Pellett says Sublime Group’s involvement with Scoop was initially to help it stream-line some of its business processes and upgrade its technology - which is Sublime’s core area of expertise.

“But once we started to engage with Scoop’s shareholders, we saw their vision and decided to invest in the business ourselves. The vision we have all committed to is to make Scoop the home of the national debate. It’s a lofty goal and one worthy of pursuing.”

“We’re excited by the opportunity to create a well funded, well structured media company that offers a platform for New Zealanders to keep abreast of, and participate across, issues of national importance from politics to economics, to business and social issues,” he says. “We’ve been working with the shareholders and board of Scoop Holdings Ltd on a strategic plan and we look forward to bringing this vision to life.”

ENDS

About NewsRoom

NewsRoom began publishing in 1996 and was purchased by NZX in 2007. Its news feeds serve New Zealand’s top legal and accounting firms, large corporations, government departments, and parliamentary offices. Services include newsmail, intranet solutions and website feeds that enable customers to keep track of the daily news agenda as it unfolds, and pinpoint information specifically related to their sphere of interest.

© Scoop Media