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(Alliance News) - Iconic Labs PLC on Monday said it has acquired the intellectual property of Gay Star News Ltd, one of the top three LGBTI publishers in the UK.
Shares in Iconic Labs were up 5.0% at 0.13 pence in London shortly before midday.
The intellectual property was acquired through Iconic's acquisition of Nuuco Media Ltd for a nominal GBP1. Nuuco was previously owned by Iconic Director David Sefton, who bought the intellectual property from Gay Star News when the publisher went into creditors voluntary liquidation.
Iconic said the liquidators "insisted on concluding the transaction" for the intellectual property sale "in a very short timetable". Nuuco owes GBP33,000 to the liquidator, which Iconic will pay using its own funds. No costs or liabilities associated with Gay Star News have been acquired by Iconic.
In 2018 Gay Star News, which includes the website www.gaystarnews.com, generated GBP500,000 of revenue. The website is "focused on events related to and concerning the global [Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender & Intersex] community", Iconic said.
Iconic said the deal "represents exceptional value" for the company, although noted that the liquidation process means Gay Star News's contracts and their associated revenue will not transfer to Iconic. However, Iconic is looking to re-engage the publisher's historic clients and expects to secure such relationships and the revenue associated with them "in the near future".
No significant working capital, Iconic said, will be needed to relaunch Gay Star News as a profitable business "in a short time frame".
Iconic Labs describes itself as a new media and technology business, aiming to build it content platform and digital brands both organically and through acquisitions.
Chief Executive John Quinlan said: "This is acquisition is a further step forward in building our platform for both the distribution and creation of online content. We believe we have the capabilities in house to leverage the strong position Gay Star News has in its targeted marketplace, build the business into the number one spot in terms of followers and make it a profitable business centre. It represents a strong fit for Iconic Labs and enables us to strengthen our market presence in the online media space and progress our business model."
"GSN is one of the most credible and professional publishers for an LGBTI audience. We believe that strong editorial independence and high levels of engagement and interaction is very important to both the LGBTI community, brand and long term prospects of the business, and we are looking forward to working on making GSN a success."