Affiliate publisher raises euro 50 million in bond issue

Affiliate marketing publisher Catena Media remains firmly on the acquisition trail and revealed this week that it has raised Euro 50 million through a bond issue, the proceeds of which will be invested in more acquisitions.

With a floating 6.75 percent interest rate and three year duration, the bond clearly appealed to investors impressed by the company’s recent expansion via the acquisitions of AskGamblers (Euro 15 million), Spelbloggare.se (IEuro 5 million) and an as yet unnamed German affiliate entity (Euro 6.5 million).

Since late last year Catena has also acquired Right Casino ($9 million), along with an unidentified Belgian-Italian affiliate company, the Swedish affiliate marketers Wonk Media, along with Slottymania, Staymedia and Arctic Marketing.

Affiliate marketing acquisitions appear to be the trend at present; Swedish online gambling corporate Gaming Innovation Group recently picked up Magenti Media, and Cherry Gaming bought Interclick (see previous reports).

Earlier this month payment solutions provider Paysafe announced the Cdn$40 million acquisition of affiliate management firm Income Access.

Four-year-old Catena’s expansion has been remarkable and well supported by venture capital investors. The firm was founded in 2012 by Erik Bergman and Emil Thidell.

Management has made no secret of its strategy to achieve 75 percent growth per annum over the next two years, and the latest quarterly performance stats showcase revenues of Euro 9.6 million, a year-on-year increase of more than 200 percent, adjusted operating profit of Euro 5 million in Q2-2016 and pre-tax profit of Euro 4.9 million.

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