More Consolidation in Hispanic Market

Ran into Jonathan Blue of Cobalt Publishing at the ADP conference last week. He pointed out that his company, which publishes Spanish-language directories under the Enlace (Spanish for Link) brand, has moved into its largest market to date by acquiring Miami En Sus Manos and Broward-Palm Beach En Sus Manos. Cobalt has built a niche Hispanic publishing business by focusing on midsize markets with fast-growing Hispanic populations. This acquisition is a big step for Cobalt, which has so far avoided big markets. The new acquisitions have combined distribution of 250,000. TKG’s view of the Hispanic publishing market is that it is a good opportunity for a limited number of players. Cobalt has moved aggressively to own the markets it operates in, and its move into Miami through acquisition (rather than launching a me-too product) is consistent with its approach, even if the market size would appear to be a diversion from its game plan.