Firecrown Media acquires railroad and space enthusiast brands of Kalmbach Media

April 2024 — Kalmbach Media, a leading independent media company that provides ideas and inspiration to avid hobbyists, enthusiasts and citizen scientists through its multichannel brands, has sold its railroad and space enthusiast brands, including Trains, Model Railroader, Classic Toy Trains, Classic Trains, Garden Railways, Trains.com, Astronomy, FineScale Modeler and Kalmbach Books, to Firecrown Media, one of the leading transportation media providers serving the aviation, boating and logistics sectors.

Kalmbach Media is a leading independent media company that provides ideas and inspiration to avid hobbyists, enthusiasts, and citizen scientists through its multichannel brands including Astronomy, Discover, FineScale Modeler, Model Railroader, Trains and Classic Trains, among others. Kalmbach’s digital media websites and extensions across the portfolio of brands reach more than 35 million consumers on multiple sites. Kalmbach is based in Waukesha, Wisconsin.

Firecrown is the largest media platform in aviation, rail, marine and supply chain and owns over 50 brands serving this space. Firecrown operates a content to commerce business model. The company invests significant resources in content creation to grow and drive engaged audiences, while developing adjacent commerce platforms to offer products to those audiences. Firecrown is based in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

Our role in the transaction

Oaklins DeSilva+Phillips, one of Oaklins’ TMT teams in New York, served as the exclusive financial advisor to Kalmbach Media on the transaction. This transaction further highlights ODP’s deep sector expertise in advising consumer and digital media businesses.