B2B Publisher Bucks Trend, Goes B2C

MJH Life Sciences recently bought NewBeauty, an online and print publisher in the beauty industry, in its second major foray into consumer-facing media.

Terms of the deal with Sandow Media weren’t disclosed. 

MJH Life Sciences, which bills itself as the largest privately held, independent and full-service medical media company in North America, is seeking to reach a new audience and the acquisition brings the potential to create a new platform in the aesthetics space.

In 2021, BDT Capital Partners, which provides family- and founder-led businesses with long-term, differentiated capital, acquired a majority interest in the company to help expand the business in both existing and emerging categories, Tiffany Hagge, a partner at BDT Capital Partners’ Investment Committee, said at the time.

MJH’s Growth Trajectory: 

Founded in 1998, MJH has seen its growth fueled by the acceleration in biotech funding, a healthy pharma pipeline, and growth in new drug approvals, driving large pharma and biotech companies with healthcare professionals around the United States.

“We consider ourselves more of a medical communications player, leading with data,” Chief Executive Officer Mike Hennessy Jr. told AMO. The company has done about 19 bolt-on acquisitions in its existence. 

MJH has 1,000 employees, and is seeing 8% to 10% year-over-year revenue growth with margins of around “the low to mid 30s.” 

Events have become vital for the company, which holds about 2,000 events during the year from small to large, of which about 40% are virtual. The segment now represents 40% to 45% of their revenue. Traditional advertising makes up another 40% of revenue with insights, which is like old school market research, making up the balance. Hennessy said given the volatility seen in markets this year, they’ve seen advertisers still present, but shifting to quarterly versus annual buying patterns.

I never thought I would say we’re an event company, but events definitely drives the greatest market share for us. The last decade now, we’ve been in events, and it’s just continued to scale for us. Pre-pandemic, we were all live. During the pandemic, we needed to figure out how to go virtual. I wasn’t a big proponent of virtual education. I thought it was a little bit harder to keep people captured for that length of time. Obviously COVID adjusted everybody’s mindset. We figured out that sweet spot today. We’re probably 60% live, 40% virtual in terms of the events that we produce.

Events are regional, and range from a few dozen attendees to trade show size. The events are predominantly educational, and there are also advisory boards and focus groups bringing together some of the top individuals within a certain speciality to discuss hot topics. 

The NewBeauty Acquisition: 

The last acquisition made by MJH Life Sciences before NewBeauty was two years ago with the purchase of Mesmerize, a consumer-facing ad agency. In two years, they saw growth of 40%.

“That was one of our real big jumping points into the consumer market. And we’ve seen nothing but tremendous growth through that acquisition. So when the new Beauty opportunity presented itself, we’re pretty we’re pretty excited about it,” Hennessy said. 

MJH bought NewBeauty because it is considered to be an authority as a result of collaborations with board-certified aesthetic professionals including dermatologists, plastic surgeons and cosmetic dentists who contribute to the content. 

Hennessy said:

What we’re seeing right now is consumers are more educated than they ever have been before. Through the conversations we’re having with our physician based audience, they’re saying a lot of the individuals that they’re meeting at that point of care are coming in with information directly on their smartphones, so having the opportunity to talk to them more directly and give them the credible information that we’ve been providing our thought leaders themselves through the last 25 years, just was a natural jumping point for us to continue to go in this direction.

The purchase brings the share of revenue coming from its B2C products from 15% to 20%, with the remainder coming from its more traditional B2B offerings.

NewBeauty adds about 320,000 global readers to the over 4 million healthcare professionals and patients already engaging with MJH’s products. 

“We love NewBeauty as a platform, and our goal is to extend it into several other iteracies, if you will. There’s opportunities for them to grow, including the event arm. That’s something that they have not done a whole lot of up until this point,” Hennessy said. They are also already looking for bolt-on acquisitions in aesthetics.

Their social footprint can also be expanded upon and see increased growth, particularly with video, he said. And it intends on making additional deals to bolster the aesthetic market.   

“There’s a few that we’re in conversations with at the moment, so hopefully it will be announced more later this year,” Hennessy said.

MJH Moving Forward

“We’re really interested in international expansion over in the EU… We like women’s health. We love oncology,” Hennessy said. “Digital health would be the other area.”

“Our bigger kind of dream is shifting ourselves into a true medical data organization and making sure that what we’re doing is advantageous towards healthcare professionals and ultimately providing patients with the best care,” Hennessy said. 

They are also looking at international partnerships and additional events, as well as looking, with caution, at AI powered personalization. 

“Data right now is king, and being able to realize treatment patterns and what influences people is crucial for us. Having a trusted audience, and making sure that we maintain that level of trust is key to me,” Hennessy said.  

The farther out dream for MJH? Become a “true medical data organization,” potentially partnering with an additional private equity firm and maybe even an IPO, Hennessy said.