Informa is to acquire Yachting Promotions Inc. (“YPI”) from Active Interest Media, a privately-owned specialist US media group backed by PE firm Wind Point Partners. The YPI portfolio includes the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show, the largest in the world, plus Yachts Miami Beach, Palm Beach International Boat Show, Suncoast Boat Show and the St Petersburg Power and Sailboat Show.
Information will pay a cash consideration of $133m (£106m), including $5m which is subject to the business meeting performance and operating targets. Based on its results in the 12 months ended 31 December 2016, this represents a trailing acquisition multiple of 11.5 times EBITDA. The business also brings with it around $40m of net operating losses that are deductible for US tax purposes over a number of years, equating to a net present value of $33.9m. The inclusion of these tax assets implies a multiple of 8.6 times EBITDA.
Stephen A. Carter, Informa Group Chief Executive, said: “Following three years of private discussions, we are delighted to bring YPI into the Group. It will deepen our leadership in the growing international yachting and boating sector, with its attractive exhibitions complementing our existing ownership of the Monaco Yacht Show.”
On completion, the addition of YPI will make Informa’s Global Exhibitions Division the largest contributor to Group revenues and profit, with annual sales of more than £500m. The Division operates a portfolio of about 200 exhibition brands.
The acquisition further increases Informa’s scale in the US, where the Group has been buying and building a position over recent years through a combination of organic investment and a series of targeted acquisitions in verticals including Construction & Real Estate (Hanley Wood Exhibitions, WWETT), Natural Products (Virgo, Penton), Agriculture (Penton), Life Sciences (FIME) and Pop Culture (Orlando MegaCon, Dallas Comicon). Following the addition of YPI, on a pro-forma basis the US is expected to represent more than 50% of Group revenues and also over half of the Global Exhibitions Division.
The consideration will be funded through existing debt facilities. It is anticipated that the Group’s net debt to EBITDA ratio will be around 2.6 times immediately following completion, falling within the Group’s target range of 2.0 times to 2.5 times by the end of 2017. Completion is expected by early March.
Note: On 6 March, Informa will announce full-year results for the 12-month period ending 31 December 2016.
UK, London & USA, El Segundo, CA
Related articles:
- Informa acquires Penton, the US- based Exhibitions and Information Services group, for £1.2bn Posted on September 16, 2016
- Progressive Digital Media Group completes the acquisition of Datamonitor Financial, Datamonitor Consumer, MarketLine and Verdict businesses from Informa Posted on September 1, 2015
- A Fusion Deal: UK Health IT exhibition EHealthLIVE sold to Informa PLC Posted on February 26, 2015
- Informa acquires a stake in Chinese company Baiwen Posted on November 27, 2013
- Informa completes the disposal of its five Corporate Training businesses Posted on October 1, 2013
- Informa disposes of its five corporate training businesses Posted on July 19, 2013
- Stephen Carter to replace Peter Rigby as Informa Group Chief Executive Posted on July 11, 2013
- Informa acquires Zephyr Associates for $62M Posted on October 16, 2012
Fusion Corporate Partners 
You must be logged in to post a comment.