The geography of luxurious consumption is altering, and the media companies serving prosperous shoppers are following it.
Headquartered in Dubai, ITP Media Group has acquired Singapore-based Coronary heart Media Group, bringing collectively two independently constructed media companies with established positions throughout the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and Asia-Pacific.
The deal expands ITP’s bodily presence into Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong whereas including a portfolio of luxurious and way of life titles together with LUXUO, Esquire, Grazia, ELLE, ELLE Males, Males’s Folio, Yacht Type, WOW (World of Watches) and NOBLE.
The mixed group will function throughout markets representing greater than two billion individuals, creating a bigger platform for reaching prosperous shoppers from the Center East and India by means of to Southeast Asia and Higher China.
For ITP, the acquisition represents greater than geographic enlargement. It’s a wager on the rising motion of wealth, manufacturers and shoppers between two of the world’s most vital luxury-growth areas.
Following the Motion of International Wealth
The business rationale is carefully tied to the altering geography of personal wealth. Southeast Asia’s media and leisure business is rising at roughly 6 per cent yearly, with some regional markets increasing by as a lot as 8.4 per cent, in line with figures cited from PwC’s International Leisure & Media Outlook.
On the similar time, Asia’s focus of personal capital continues to deepen. Hong Kong has overtaken Switzerland because the world’s main centre for cross-border wealth, in line with the BCG 2026 International Wealth Report cited within the announcement. Hong Kong and Singapore collectively at the moment are house to greater than 4,000 single-family workplaces — 4 occasions the quantity recorded 5 years earlier.
Malaysia represents one other potential progress market. Knight Frank’s The Wealth Report 2026, as referenced by the group, anticipates the nation’s ultra-high-net-worth inhabitants rising by 20 per cent over the subsequent 5 years.
For luxurious manufacturers, these modifications make regional boundaries more and more much less related. The identical high-net-worth client could spend time between Singapore, Hong Kong, Dubai and different international wealth centres whereas anticipating entry to the identical worldwide manufacturers, experiences and cultural conversations. Media more and more wants to maneuver with them.
Constructing a Media Hall Between Asia and the GCC
That cross-border motion sits on the centre of ITP’s technique. The acquisition provides the group a bodily presence in 10 international locations and will increase its portfolio to roughly 90 media manufacturers. ITP says its platforms at the moment attain greater than 200 million individuals every month throughout digital, social, video, audio, print and live-event channels.
Chief Government Officer Ali Akawi describes the longer-term goal as constructing a media ecosystem with considerably better worldwide scale.
“Bringing the 2 collectively creates a media hall between two of the fastest-growing markets on earth,” Akawi stated, pointing to the chance to attach campaigns and content material between Dubai, Singapore and wider worldwide markets.
The proposition is particularly related for luxurious companies searching for regional attain with out coping with separate media companions throughout each particular person market. By the mixed portfolio, ITP plans to supply promoting, sponsorship, occasions and model activations able to reaching high-net-worth audiences throughout a number of international locations by means of a single community.
The potential extends past luxurious. ITP has recognized hospitality, building, commerce, sport and different sectors as areas the place the cross-regional mannequin may finally be expanded.
Coronary heart Media Group’s Asian Portfolio Enters Its Subsequent Chapter
Coronary heart Media Group has spent greater than 20 years growing an viewers round luxurious, vogue, watches, yachting and way of life throughout Asia-Pacific. Founder Olivier Burlot will be a part of the ITP Media Group board and can now act as ITP Vice President. In his capability, Burlot will work on increasing the group’s core manufacturers to new markets and can proceed strategic licensing route as a part of a phased fairness transition.
He described the deal as a chance to supply Coronary heart Media Group’s present manufacturers with better scale and funding whereas connecting them with the Center East, one of many world’s most carefully watched luxurious markets.
“Once we constructed Coronary heart Media, the ambition was all the time to present Asia’s luxurious and way of life audiences media actually worthy of them,” he stated. “Becoming a member of ITP is the pure subsequent chapter — it takes every part now we have created and offers it scale, funding and a bridge into one of many world’s fastest-growing luxurious markets.”
Wilson Lim will stay in management as Managing Director of ITP Media Singapore and Malaysia, working with the prevailing operational, gross sales and editorial groups throughout each markets.
The mixing is anticipated to happen in phases, with ITP stating that the strategy is meant to protect the person editorial identities, viewers relationships and shopper connections established by Coronary heart Media Group’s titles. In luxurious publishing, scale can develop distribution and business alternative, however credibility continues to rely closely on native experience and editorial authority.
Extra Than Publishing
ITP’s enlargement additionally displays a broader transformation throughout the media business. Based in 1987 as a five-person enterprise constructed round a single business-to-business publication, the group has developed right into a multi-channel firm spanning publishing, influencer advertising, gaming, sport, stay leisure and occasions.
The corporate operates divisions together with ITP Dwell, ITP Gaming and ITP Sport. Its present portfolio contains regional and worldwide manufacturers resembling Arabian Enterprise, Harper’s Bazaar, Esquire, Cosmopolitan, Grazia, Dazed, Time Out and WatchPro in varied Center Japanese markets.
The acquisition follows a not too long ago introduced 10-year settlement to function Time Out Singapore and Time Out Hong Kong, additional reinforcing the group’s curiosity in Asian enlargement.
Funding following the Coronary heart Media Group transaction is anticipated to increase into editorial, digital, design and stay occasions, alongside new cross-border media merchandise, gaming tournaments, sporting experiences and model activations.
Luxurious Media Turns into More and more Borderless
The bigger significance of the acquisition lies in what it says in regards to the luxurious client. For many years, media markets had been largely organised geographically: Asian publications served Asian readers, whereas Center Japanese titles focused on the Gulf. Wealth as we speak is significantly extra cell.
Prosperous shoppers journey, make investments, research, store and keep houses throughout a number of jurisdictions. Luxurious homes more and more organise their methods round international shopper relationships somewhat than remoted nationwide markets.
Media firms serving these audiences are starting to adapt accordingly. For Coronary heart Media Group, becoming a member of ITP gives entry to better worldwide infrastructure and funding. For ITP, the acquisition supplies a longtime foothold in three Asian markets and an present community of luxurious manufacturers with native editorial authority.
Extra importantly, it creates a bridge between areas which can be changing into more and more central to the way forward for international luxurious. The following battle for prosperous audiences could subsequently be much less about dominating one particular person market than understanding how wealth, tradition and affect transfer between them.
For extra details about ITP Media Group, click on right here.
For extra on the most recent in enterprise reads, click on right here.
