Simon Baker-backed artsHub completes acquisition of Screen Hub portal

The Simon Baker-backed web portal artsHub has just completed its acquisition of film and television website Screen Hub – and Baker expects some significant growth as a result.

Announcing artsHub – an Australian arts and entertainment news site – as one of the companies presenting at the Simon Baker/Wholesale Investor events in Melbourne and Sydney, digital entrepreneur Baker said the completion of the acquisition will help artsHub in its quest to sustain double-digit growth.

“ArtsHub is turning over about $2.67 million this year, and we’re very happy with the business. It’s profitable, which is great, and we did some debt funding to accelerate the growth.”

“Screen Hub was a revenue base of about half a million. But you add that to the existing artsHub base, and we think we can get a good 20% rate of growth and integrate the two at the same time.”

Founded in 2000, artsHub has become the market leader for arts and entertainment news online. And Baker says Screen Hub, which was founded in 2002 to serve professionals in the film and television industries, is a natural fit.

The acquisition was announced four months ago, but some of the first integrated deals are set to go live this month, with a member benefits package launching soon.

“Within this segment, Screen Hub is a leader, and it gels well with us being a leader in the performing arts segment. Combined with the fact it can be monetised, it’s a good fit.

“These things are about scale and how quickly you can meaningfully get scale. I’m happy with the deal we did and what it provides us.”

Baker says the company will now focus on raising money to accelerate growth and work on marketing Screen Hub in different states.

“If you look at how our demographics skew, we’re quite strong in Victoria, but not so much in Queensland. We’re also doing decently in New South Wales, but only scratching the surface in Adelaide.”

“I think there are also a number of smaller bolt-on opportunities out there, so it’s really now about how we mop up these opportunities. Having cash allows you to do that at speed.”