NZX has entered into a term sheet and is finalising an agreement to acquire Country-Wide Publications Ltd (CPL).
Country-Wide Publications Ltd (CPL) is New Zealand's leading rural publishing company. Country-Wide's products include The NZ Farmers Weekly, Country-Wide North and Country-Wide South, NZ Dairy Exporter, Deer Farmer and Young Country.
NZX CEO, Mark Weldon said, "The primary sector underpins the New Zealand economy. Farming is the biggest single industry in New Zealand, and farmers are innovative businesspeople who rely on timely and robust data and information to make sound decisions.
"The CPL team deeply understands its farmer readership, and CPL will be an excellent strategic addition to NZX's set of Rural Information businesses," said Weldon.
CPL Owners Dean Williamson and Tony Leggett, who bought CPL in 1997, have grown the business to produce 78 publications a year under seven mastheads, and from a turnover of $250,000 in 1997 to over $7 million in 2008. CPL publications reach all 86,000 farmers in New Zealand at least once every week.
Dean Williamson said, "This is an exciting next step for both the CPL business and the rural sector as a whole. Bringing NZX and CPL together creates a raft of new opportunities. Both are innovative companies focused on growth."
Tony Leggett said, "We understand our market and our business model reflects this. We give farmers the information they need, and astute advertisers appreciate that. We focus on value.
"Print media remains the right medium to reach farmers at this point in time. As we see increased broadband penetration in rural areas, we are likely to see more interest in our online offerings and will continue to develop products in this space," said Leggett.
CPL operations will remain based in Feilding, managed by Dean and Tony.
"This is a long term investment in the New Zealand rural sector," said Weldon.