Magazine Acquisition Strategy

Craig Fuller's strategy involves buying undervalued magazine titles and transforming them into profitable lifestyle businesses by leveraging their dedicated audiences to sell additional products and services. The approach combines private equity-style acquisitions with venture capital-style business building.

Core Strategy

• Buy magazines at 3-5x EBITDA multiples
• Target magazines that have survived decades and maintain loyal audiences
• Focus on enthusiast categories where audiences spend significant money
• Upgrade quality and invest in editorial to revitalize brands
• Use magazines as foundation to build additional revenue streams

Acquisition Approach

• Buy portfolios of magazines rather than single titles
• Look for magazines owned by:
  • Large corporations wanting to divest print assets
  • Family businesses without clear exit strategies
• Currently own 54 titles across aviation, boating, trains, and space
• Typical deal structure: ~$1-3M purchase price with some deferred payments

Revenue Model

• Fix core magazine economics:
  • Raise subscription prices significantly
  • Optimize advertising rates based on audience intent
  • Consolidate back-office operations across portfolio
• Build additional businesses around audience:
  • Real estate developments (aviation)
  • Financial services (aircraft financing)
  • Ecommerce (merchandise, collectibles)
  • Other category-specific opportunities

Financial Performance

• Current run rate: $60M revenue
• 18-20% profit margins
• Started in 2021
• Total investment: ~$40M
• Goal: $1B revenue by 2030 through organic growth and acquisitions

Key Success Factors

• Focus on enthusiast categories with high-value audiences
• Maintain editorial quality and brand heritage
• Build separate P&Ls for media vs commerce businesses
• Use data to understand and monetize audience intent
• Patient capital approach to building additional services