Licensing is one way to acquire content, but “acquire” is somewhat of a misnomer. A licensee actually rents content for a certain period of time and under specific terms and conditions. But content can also be bought and sold outright, either in the form of finished products or individual assets. And because so much content is now available in a digital format and can be showcased on publisher websites, it can be evaluated quickly, remotely, and collaboratively by any potential partners. Now you can see more cards in a deck then ever before. And if you are lucky, you can pick an ace.
At any given time, a number of companies may be looking to divest themselves of assets that no longer fit into their strategic plan or corporate profile. These properties may be of high quality and still relevant, but for a variety of reasons—including exiting the business entirely—the company’s management has decided to sell rather than maintain and market them, or even manage the in-house licensing process.
Many companies have been built on making serial acquisitions of this type, and some have been able to grow or to expand into new markets by acquiring a number of product lines. For publishers who are looking to grow quickly and have available capital—or if they are in a mature market segment and need to make a move into a higher growth sector—looking at potential acquisition targets may be a sensible strategy.
Book fairs are potential vehicles for identifying substantial acquisition targets. But another way to find an acquisition that’s a good fit is networking with investment banks or private equity firms that specialize in brokering IP or that are purchasing media companies for their own portfolios. Other good contacts include various publishing associations, such as the Association of American Publishers (AAP), the U.K. Publishers Association (PA), or the Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA), which can help locate potential opportunities. Investment banks, private equity, or venture capital firms that specialize in the publishing and media sectors are often affiliate members of these types of associations and sponsor networking events at their conferences, sometimes in conjunction with major book fairs. Industry publications, such as Publisher’s Weekly or The Book Standard, follow acquisition trends and can be useful sources for learning about who is buying whom and what companies or product lines may be up for sale. But in order to get a jump on the process and to take advantage of opportunities at the earliest possible stages, most publishers try to find their way on to the brokers’ A-lists to signal that they are in the market to make an acquisition.
