The digital media group DC Company (Le Gorafi, Les Éclaireuses) formalized on Tuesday the acquisition of Konbini, a leading media outlet among 15-35 year-olds which it makes its “flagship” and which must benefit from its “technological skills” in a sector in constant change.
The amount of the transaction, by which the company created in 2021 acquires 100% of the capital of Konbini, until then majority held by the Perrodo family, owner of the oil company Perenco, has not been specified.
Maintained at the helm of Konbini, its founders David Creuzot and Lucie Beudet, who held 20% of the capital, will sit on the supervisory committee of DC Company, of which they remain shareholders, while the Perrodo family retains “a minority stake without control” in the company. band.
A “strategic alliance”
This acquisition, announced in September, aims to raise DC Company “to the rank of major player in the ecosystem of French media groups”, affirmed its founder, Geoffrey La Rocca.
The group now claims 40 million monthly users (including 30 million for Konbini, site visitors and subscribers to its social networks included) and 4 billion videos viewed per year (including 3.5 billion for Konbini), argues its director. general.
This former journalist and ex-director of the advertising agency Teads also defends a “strategic alliance” between the technological know-how of DC Company and the creativity of the pioneer of online media launched in 2008, with an editorial line focused on entertainment and cultural information, LGBTQ+ issues or even post-MeToo subjects.
Reach 18-35 year olds
“Technology is becoming essential for us” to “prepare for the future” and “enrich our content”, adds David Creuzot, for whom innovations like augmented reality could “redistribute a lot of things”.
Having become profitable with more than 20 million euros in turnover, Konbini owes half of its revenue to “brand content” (production of content for brands), still “at the heart of our strategy”, adds- he.
“This is a part that we intend to develop considerably”, specifies David Creuzot, at a time when “a lot of” advertising investments “are being shifted to digital” to the detriment of aging television.
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Konbini, which ensures that it reaches “100% of 18-35 year olds at least once a month” thanks to its formats adapted to each platform, also intends to develop “in real life”, certain episodes of its podcast “Small Talk” having for example were recorded in public last year.
The media employs some 175 people, including 40 press card holders.
Owner of the parody site Le Gorafi and the women's media Les Éclaireuses, DC Company is also a shareholder of I/O Media (Têtu, The Good Life, etc.) and includes the Propuls'her incubator and the community of entrepreneurs and managers DC Club.
Its new acquisition confirms the appeal of online media targeting a young audience.
Last year, billionaires Rodolphe Saadé (CMA CGM) and Xavier Niel (Iliad) invested or reinvested in Brut, while billionaire Daniel Kretinsky (CMI) acquired 45% of Loopsider.