Private Media buys out ‘frenemy’ Pinstripe Media in consolidation of SME publishing sector

Tim Burrowes

July 23, 2025 10:33

The two biggest publishing players covering the small business space have come together with Private Media buying its rival Pinstripe Media.

Private Media owns Smart Company while Pinstripe, founded by former Sunrise presenter David Koch, owned Kochie’s Business Builders, Startup Daily, and Flying Solo. Son AJ Koch, who is now MD of Pinstripe and will join Private Media for at least three years as part of the deal, told Mumbrella: “He [Koch senior] is not a spring chicken anymore and we know he needs to retire at some point. So we’d always talked about being open to an exit at some point.”

AJ Koch and Will Hayward

The two publishing houses are the main two players in the SME – small and medium sized enterprises – sector.

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Tim Burrowes

Tim Burrowes is the publisher of Mumbrella and Unmade. He co-founded Mumbrella in 2008 and sister title Unmade in 2021. He's worked in the UK, Middle East, Asia & Australia and has specialised in writing about the communications world for the last 25 years. He wrote the book Media Unmade, published in 2021, and became the presenter of MediaLand on ABC Radio National in 2025.