LONDON: Haymarket Media Group has snapped up three of Britain’s most influential marketing publications from Centaur Media, tightening its grip on the advertising and communications industry.
The acquisition of Marketing Week, Creative Review and Festival of Marketing marks a shrewd move by the 67-year-old publisher, which already controls heavyweight titles including Campaign, PRWeek and Performance Marketing World.
Haymarket Media group chief executive Kevin Costello called the trio “highly respected brands” that fit perfectly with the company’s focus on specialist audiences. The publications will join Haymarket’s business media division under managing director Donna Murphy, initially operating as a separate unit.
Claire Rance, who runs the acquired brands, will stay on to lead them through the transition. “This acquisition represents an exciting opportunity to combine the strengths of our joint businesses,” she said.
The deal adds serious firepower to Haymarket’s marketing arsenal. Marketing Week and Creative Review, launched in 1978 and 1980 respectively, are cornerstone publications for Britain’s £25bn advertising industry. Festival of Marketing, the events business founded in 2013, rounds out the portfolio.
Haymarket has been building its marcomms empire for decades, launching Campaign in 1968 and buying PRWeek in 1988. The company now owns more than 70 brands globally, from What Car? to Asian Investor, with offices spanning eight countries.
The acquisition comes as Centaur Media continues its strategic overhaul. The London-listed publisher began reviewing its assets at the end of 2024, offloading Mark Ritson’s MiniMBA business to Brave Bison in May, Oystercatchers to management in July, and The Lawyer to Legal Benchmarking in September.
For Haymarket, the deal reinforces its position as the undisputed king of specialist media in Britain, giving it unparalleled reach across the marketing and creative industries.
The details of the deal were not provided.
Haymarket Media had earlier this year sold its joint venture Haymarket SAC with the Sorabjee family and its titles Autocar India, Autocar Professional, and What Car? India to Value Drive Technologies, the parent company of Spinny.com.