Audioboom to acquire UK podcast network Adelicious for up to £10m

LONDON - Audioboom Group plc (AIM:BOOM) has entered into a binding agreement to acquire UK podcast network Adelicious Ltd for a maximum consideration of up to £10 million, according to a statement released Wednesday.

To partially finance the acquisition, Audioboom plans to raise £3 million through a placing of approximately 1.11 million new ordinary shares at 270 pence per share, representing a 3.9% discount to Tuesday’s closing price.

The acquisition is structured with an initial consideration of £4.5 million, to be paid 60% in cash and 40% in new Audioboom shares, with additional deferred and contingent payments of up to £5.5 million based on performance targets.

Adelicious, the fourth largest independent podcast network in the UK, delivers over 20 million monthly downloads across 50 premium podcasts including "Shged. Married. Annoyed." and "Football’s Greatest with Jeff Stelling."

The combined entity is expected to become the second largest podcast network in the UK, positioning Audioboom to capture a larger share of the UK market, which the company believes has significant untapped potential compared to the more mature US market.

"I have long been an admirer of Adelicious as they developed into a best-in-class podcast network," said Stuart Last, CEO of Audioboom. "Our platform will help supercharge their growth with access to our sophisticated technology and expanded monetisation tools."

Audioboom expects the acquisition to be immediately accretive to underlying earnings. For the financial year ending July 2025, Adelicious is forecasted to generate $7.6 million in revenue and $0.7 million in adjusted EBITDA.

The transaction represents an enterprise value to sales multiple of approximately 1.0x, compared to industry standard multiples of 3-4x, according to the company.

The acquisition is part of Audioboom’s strategy to consolidate the fragmented podcast market and expand its presence in the UK, where podcast advertising spend per capita is estimated to be 4.5 times lower than in the US.

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