Audioboom shares rose on Monday after reports by Sky News that Amazon and Spotify were preparing rival bids for the podcasting company chichis listed on London’s AIM.
Sky reported Amazon had appointed an investment bank to work on the deal which Sky say could see bids as early as this month.
Audioboom shares traded briefly above 2,150p before the rally faded to trade 11% higher on the day at 1,960p.
Exclusive: The technology giants Amazon and Spotify are considering rival takeover bids for Audioboom, the London-listed podcasting group which has seen revenues and its public market valuation surge amid a boom in audience figures during the pandemic. https://t.co/YL72xLlU1H
— Mark Kleinman (@MarkKleinmanSky) February 13, 2022
Audioboom have experienced a significant increase in the number of people listening to podcasts and recorded their maiden annual net profit of approximately $1.4m.
“2021 was a phenomenal year for Audioboom. In my second year leading the business we have delivered an incredible set of results, the culmination of our focus on content expansion and platform development,” said Stuart Last, CEO of Audioboom.
Audioboom posted a 39% increase in average global monthly downloads to 113 million in Q4 2021, up from 81.7 million in Q4 2020.
The pandemic has dramatically increased the popularity of podcasts and Audioboom would be a deft acquisition for the tech giants and they seek to grow their audience.
Spotify launched podcasts in 2020 and made big investments in growing their presence in the market by securing a $100m deal with Joe Rogan for exclusive distribution of his Podcast which has featured guests such as Elon Musk. Spotify has splashed out $1bn on Podcast rights and securing shows so AudiBoom’s platform and audience would be the perfect addition to further monetise their investment.
Audioboom has previously received a bid from All Active Asset Capital but appeared dead in the water as All Active shares were delisted.