Founded in 2007 by Paul Dobson, CMC offers a portfolio of specialist consumer brands including The English Home, The English Garden, Artists & Illustrators, Classic Boat, and Britain.
The portfolio offers print and digital subscriptions and reaches a combined monthly audience of 2.5 million in the UK and abroad.
Following rapid growth in its subscription business over the last five years, both in the UK and the US, CMC now has more than 750,000 total subscriptions.
Telegraph Media Group said its stable of brands was highly complementary to TMG’s existing publications and subscriber base.
It said the purchase provides the opportunity to expand both TMG and CMC’s portfolios, to deepen subscriber relationships, and scale their markets, furthering TMG’s vision to reach more subscribers than ever before.
The acquisition, which was announced yesterday (28 March), will enable TMG to provide a wider offering to existing readers of both its publications and those of CMC.
Nick Hugh, CEO of Telegraph Media Group, said: “The success of our subscription strategy over the last five years has put TMG in a strong position, providing us with the capability to invest in other publishing groups.
“I am delighted that CMC will be joining TMG and our portfolio of award-winning publications. This investment will help us to deepen our subscriber relationships and scale our market both in the UK and the US, furthering our vision to reach more subscribers than ever before.”
James Dobson, managing director of The Chelsea Magazine Company, said: “I am proud that CMC is joining the Telegraph Media Group. Since my father founded the business in 2007, we have built a broad portfolio of engaging specialist brands.
“TMG offers a fantastic platform to grow print and digital audiences, and together with my CMC colleagues, I am excited to work alongside such an established industry leader.”
Paul Dobson, executive chairman of The Chelsea Magazine Company, added: “It is exciting that the Telegraph Media Group has acquired CMC. Our portfolio of titles has developed rapidly in the past 15 years via a mixture of launches and acquisitions, and I want to pay special tribute to our brilliant teams who have helped achieve this.
“As I step down from the business, I have every confidence that James, the management team and TMG will take our subscriber offering to the next level.”
In its most recently filed accounts at Companies House, for the year ended 31 December 2021, CMC reported a turnover of £10.61m, up from restated 2020 figures of £10.53m. The average number of staff it employed during 2021 was 75.
