Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky’s group takes a stake in Loopsider

Five years after its birth, “Loopsider will take on another dimension”, according to its co-founder Giuseppe de Martino. After a few weeks of negotiation, the pure video player that he created with Johan Hufnagel and Arnaud Maillard enters this Monday in the bosom of CMI France, publisher of “Elle”, “Télé 7 jours”, “Marianne”, “Franc-Tireur”, etc. The group of the Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky , which will also soon be the owner of Editis, takes 45% of the shares of Loopsider, leaving the three founders in the joint position of first shareholder. The direction remains unchanged.

The amount of the transaction remains confidential, but the valuation of the company could be around 30 million euros, according to “La Lettre A”. Profitable in 2021 and 2022, Loopsider, which derives the vast majority of its revenue from its brand content activities, is growing strongly (around 35% per year over the last two years).

“This year, we are aiming for between 35 and 50% growth in turnover and Ebitda”, specifies Giuseppe de Martino. The company relies on two outlets, Loopsider, on news, and Period, on body and gender issues, and is set to launch a third, Hupster, on the creator economy very soon. Every day, 7 million people watch videos from Loopsider, which also markets a service for analyzing the performance of publications, including videos, on social networks.

Develop video

It is this precious know-how that the group of magazine press CMI France. “Loopsider will bring us its expertise to help us develop our brands’ videos on social networks, with the aim of launching the first ones in September,” confirms Valérie Salomon, president of CMI France. The group’s titles will also benefit from Loopsider’s social network analysis tool, which will also continue to be marketed.

With this operation, CMI France is reproducing a well-established plan, consisting in allying a capital with a profitable company, very successful in a skill that can benefit its magazines, while leaving the founders in charge. CMI France thus took control in October of the prospective magazine “Usbek & Rica”, also a specialist in the organization of events, before taking 47% of the podcast production studio in December Louie Media. “With these three acquisitions, we are adding new know-how each time to develop our brands”, sums up Valérie Salomon.

Concrete translation of this strategy, “we have just launched a first podcast of the magazine ‘Elle’ at the beginning of June and a second will follow in September”, specifies the president of CMI France. “It is this model that we will reiterate with Loopsider. “Elle”, but also “Télé 7 jours” are promising playgrounds for the video specialist, who will also benefit from the power of CMI’s management to increase his income.

Pluralism

With this new investment, the second French magazine press group is therefore continuing its rapid development, also driven by launches, such as that in April of “Dossiers de Chroniques Criminelles”, or “Franc-Tireur” in October 2021 – a success with approximately 22,000 single-issue sales each week and as many subscribers.

“Since Daniel Kretinsky took over the magazines of the Lagardère group in 2018, we have launched six brands and made three acquisitions or equity investments, with the idea of ​​developing a pluralistic group, housing complementary titles, which reflect a diversity of opinions and themes, and reach all audiences,” says Valérie Salomon. All without losing money, the CMI France group being profitable despite the soaring price of paper last year. Its annual turnover is around 220 million euros, according to our information.