Private Media buys out ‘frenemy’ Pinstripe Media in consolidation of SME publishing sector
The two biggest publishing players covering the small business space have come together with Private Media buying its rival Pinstripe Media.
Private Media owns Smart Company while Pinstripe, founded by former Sunrise presenter David Koch, owned Kochie’s Business Builders, Startup Daily, and Flying Solo. Son AJ Koch, who is now MD of Pinstripe and will join Private Media for at least three years as part of the deal, told Mumbrella: “He [Koch senior] is not a spring chicken anymore and we know he needs to retire at some point. So we’d always talked about being open to an exit at some point.”
AJ Koch and Will Hayward
The two publishing houses are the main two players in the SME – small and medium sized enterprises – sector.
Although Private Media proprietor Eric Beecher and Koch senior had discussed a tie-up seven or eight years ago, the consolidation only came about when Private Media CEO Will Hayward went on the hunt for acquisition targets.
AJ Koch said: “We obviously had been frenemies for a long time, and had known Will personally for a long time. While we had always had a competitive spirit in Pinstripe versus Private Media there was always a huge amount of respect for their business, for their journalism and for the people within it.”
According to Hayward, although he examined 30 opportunities, the chance to consolidate the SME market was the one that made most sense.
“What was amazing about this deal is that it was a segment we already knew really well,” Hayward said. “By combining these two brands, we are the only kind of meaningful publisher that’s very, very focused on this particular audience.”
None of the financials of the deal were disclosed.
Hayward insisted that the increased hold on the sector would not lead to increased prices for advertisers. He said: “The first step to building a really sustainable business in which the majority of revenue comes from advertising is to make sure that you’re making it really easy for your advertisers to grow their spend year on year.
“If I was a CEO of a publicly listed business where I was incentivized on the next 12 months of revenue, absolutely pricing power matters a great deal. I’m not.
“We’re not too focused on the next year. We’re focused more on the next three to five years. And the first step on that journey will be making it as easy as possible for the marketing team at Big Tech Inc to say ‘That’s a great buy. Let’s just keep doing that buy’.”
- Unmade Podcast: ‘Media is different’ – Will Hayward on why he believes Private Media’s Pinstripe purchase will work out
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Tim Burrowes founded Mumbrella in 2008. He worked on Mumbrella until 2021. At various points he was editor, content director and editor-at-large. He returned to Mumbrella as Publisher in January 2025
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