Progressive Digital Media Group plc has completed the acquisition of Datamonitor Financial, Datamonitor Consumer, MarketLine and Verdict businesses from Informa plc.
The sale was effected by Informa transferring the above named businesses to Verdict Research Limited, the entire share capital of which was acquired by Progressive. Progressive paid £25.0 million in cash. For the financial year ended 31 December 2014, the pro-forma revenues for the businesses being acquired were approximately £17.8m and adjusted earnings (excluding central overheads) were circa £3.0m.
Commenting on the acquisition Simon Pyper, Chief Executive of Progressive Digital Media, said: “The acquisition of these businesses will broaden Progressive’s Consumer offering, providing scale and additional categories in an important industry sector. This acquisition will be our largest to date, yet of all the companies acquired by Progressive, these businesses are the ones we are most familiar with. Whilst some investment will be required this year and next, the Board is confident that this acquisition will provide a platform for further growth.”
Michael Danson, Executive Chairman of Progressive Digital Media Group plc, was chief executive of Datamonitor when the business was sold to Informa for a reported £502 million in 2007.
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