Pearson agrees to buy Education Development International

March 8, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

Pearson, the publisher of the Financial Times, has agreed to buy Education Development International. The Offer is 200 pence in cash for each EDI Share and values EDI’s entire issued ordinary share capital at approximately £112.7 million.

The Offer Price represents a premium of approximately 61 per cent to the Closing Price of 124.0 pence per EDI Share on 4March 2011, the last business day prior to the commencement of the offer period; and 73 per cent to the average Closing Price of 115.6 pence per EDI Share over the three months prior to 4 March 2011.

EDI is a leading provider of education and training qualifications and assessment services, with a strong reputation for the use of information technology to administer learning programmes and deliver on-screen assessments.

Pearson believes that the addition of EDI will complement Pearson’s existing work-based learning business and will create an enlarged qualifications group offering a comprehensive range of vocational and academic services to the UK and international markets. Pearson believes that its financial resources, international scale and strengths in assessment, publishing and technology will also enhance the offering to EDI’s customers.

John Fallon, Chief Executive of Pearson’s International Education Business, said, “In EDI we have found a dynamic partner who shares our commitment to education and training. In the UK and around the world, we will be even better placed to work with employers and training partners to develop high quality apprenticeships and related qualifications. In this work, we will help companies to be more competitive and make their staff more employable.”

Nigel Snook, Chief Executive of EDI, said, “The Offer Price to acquire the EDI business reflects the value created for shareholders over the past 10 years through the hard work and commitment of the staff and management team. We now look forward to working with our Pearson colleagues to take the business on to its next stage, creating a world-class organisation supporting vocational education and training programmes in the UK and internationally.”

Citi is acting as financial adviser and corporate broker to Pearson. Brewin Dolphin is acting as financial adviser and corporate broker to EDI.

UK, London

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Advantage IQ to acquire Building Knowledge Networks

January 27, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

Advantage IQ, a provider of strategic energy management solutions has entered into an agreement to acquire Building Knowledge Networks, a Seattle-based real-time building energy management services provider.

Under the terms of the acquisition agreement, Building Knowledge Networks will be fully integrated and operated as Advantage IQ.  The transaction has been funded by Advantage IQ and is expected to be neutral to earnings in 2011, as revenues are approximately $1 million for the 12 months ending Dec. 31, 2010.  Advantage IQ President and Chief Executive Officer Jeff Heggedahl will continue to lead the organisation, and Building Knowledge Networks founders Jay Marshall and Mike Willson will maintain leadership roles in furthering the development of this offering.

“Building management systems are rich with data, yet businesses are finding that this data is often difficult to acquire, aggregate, interpret and leverage toward actionable energy management,” said Heggedahl. “By acquiring Building Knowledge Networks, we are taking the next logical step to provide our clients with real-time connectivity to their building systems, empowering them with the data and analytics they need to make good business decisions that reduce costs while improving operations and reducing overall environmental impact.”

“Building Knowledge Networks was formed in 2003 to provide commercial building owners with analysis services that optimize building systems, reduce energy expenditures and improve operations management,” said Mike Willson, co-founder of Building Knowledge Networks. “There is a focus on technology to improve environmental design in the development of new buildings, yet there is a need for businesses to reduce energy use in existing, older buildings. We share Advantage IQ’s mission to provide businesses with the counsel and information needed to reduce energy consumption and costs.”The effective management of commercial building systems is a critical component of lowering overall energy demand in the United States and globally. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, there are 4.8 million commercial buildings in the U.S. that use $107.9 billion in energy annually. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s ENERGY STAR program cites that 30 percent of the energy spent by commercial and industrial  buildings is being used inefficiently or unnecessarily.

Advantage IQ is a subsidiary of Avista Corp. (NYSE: AVA)

USA, Spokane, WA & Seattle, WA

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Demand for media IPOs growing – Demand Media and Nielsen shares soar above their IPO prices

January 27, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

Nielsen Holdings and Demand Media rallied on Wednesday in their trading debuts, signalling that demand for media-related IPOs was building.

Nielsen’s shares rose 8.7 percent from its initial public offering price, and Demand Media’s shares rose 33.2 percent.

Nielsen’s IPO, the biggest of the two, is the first of what is expected to be a rush of big private equity-backed IPOs in 2011. Nielsen raised $1.6 billion on Tuesday, nearly a tenth more than expected.

Read the full story here

USA, New York, NY & Santa Monica, CA

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The Nielsen Company announces the pricing of Its Initial Public Offering

January 26, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

Nielsen Holdings N.V. has priced its initial public offering of 71,428,572 shares of its common stock at $23.00 per share. The Nielsen Company’s shares of common stock are expected to begin trading today, January 26, on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol “NLSN.” The Nielsen Company has also priced its concurrent offering of $250 million in aggregate principal amount of mandatory convertible subordinated bonds, which will be mandatorily convertible into shares of The Nielsen Company’s common stock on February 1, 2013. The bonds will bear interest at a rate of 6.25% per annum, and the conversion rate per $50.00 principal amount of bonds will be between 1.8116 and 2.1739, depending on the market value of The Nielsen Company’s common stock, subject to customary anti-dilution adjustments.

In the initial public offering, The Nielsen Company will sell 71,428,572 shares of common stock. The IPO’s underwriters have a 30-day option to purchase up to 10,714,286 of additional shares of common stock from The Nielsen Company at the initial public offering price less the underwriting discount. In the bond offering, The Nielsen Company will sell an aggregate principal amount of $250 million of bonds. The underwriters of the bond offering have a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional $37.5 million in aggregate principal amount of bonds from The Nielsen Company at the initial public offering price less the underwriting discount.

The Nielsen Company will receive net proceeds of approximately $1,560 million from the initial public offering of its common stock and approximately $240 million from the bond offering after payment of commissions and estimated expenses. The Nielsen Company intends to use the proceeds to repay a portion of its outstanding indebtedness and to pay an advisory agreement termination fee to its current owners.
J.P. Morgan, Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank Securities, Goldman, Sachs & Co. and Citi are serving as joint book-running managers for both offerings, with BofA Merrill Lynch, William Blair & Company, Guggenheim Securities, Wells Fargo Securities, Blaylock Robert Van, LLC, HSBC, Loop Capital Markets, Mizuho Securities USA Inc., Ramirez & Co., Inc. and The Williams Capital Group, L.P. are acting as co-managers.

USA, New York, NY

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Deloitte expands energy analytics capabilities with acquisition of Altos Management Partners and MarketPoint

January 14, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

Deloitte has acquired substantially all of the assets of Altos Management Partners, a consultancy to energy companies that was founded in 1995, as well as those of MarketPoint, an Altos sister company best known for MarketBuilder, an analytic suite for energy market modeling and price forecasting.

The acquisition will provide Deloitte’s clients with the ability to gain a better understanding of market fundamentals for energy commodities, including oil, gas, refinery products, electricity and coal.

“Supply, demand and price analytics are critical to energy companies,” said Greg Aliff, vice chairman and U.S. energy and resources sector leader, Deloitte LLP. “In order to be leaders, these companies must understand the future better than their competitors and act first. The acquisition of Altos and MarketPoint, combined with Deloitte’s existing solutions and services, will provide our clients with tools and services to improve their planning for future markets, enabling them to act faster and more comprehensively with greater confidence, and giving them a leg up in an increasingly competitive market.”

Andy Dunn, a partner at Deloitte & Touche LLP, explained that the acquisition is the foundation for a newly created offering named Deloitte MarketPoint, which is located within the Deloitte Center for Energy Solutions. Dunn, who will manage Deloitte MarketPoint, said the acquisition “will allow Deloitte to provide the energy industry with decision support solutions, including MarketBuilder, its models and data, in addition to consulting services.”

As part of the acquisition, Dale Nesbitt, Ph.D., has joined Deloitte. Nesbitt founded MarketPoint in 1995 and is well known in the energy industry for his market analysis modeling tools, including the North American Regional Gas Model, the World Gas Trade Model, the World Oil Model, the Western European Gas Model, and the North American Regional Electricity Model. MarketPoint’s models have been widely used by companies in the North American energy industry, as well as in energy markets in Europe, Asia, the Middle East, South America and Australia.

According to Nesbitt, “The success of MarketPoint, combined with the strength and quantitative experience of Deloitte, will bring a wide array of advanced analytics services to energy and resources companies of all varieties.”

USA,

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Research shows smaller buyouts bounce back in 2010

January 11, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

Source – Lyceum Capital and Cass Business School

The total value of smaller private equity buyouts completed during 2010 rose to over £2.5billion, a 150 per cent increase on 2009 levels, according to data from The UK Growth Buyout Dashboard.

The quarterly trend analysis of private equity transactions in the £10 million to £100 million segment produced by Lyceum Capital and Cass Business School shows 68 companies raised an estimated £2,504 million of buyout funding in 2010. This compares with 34 transactions and £1,045 million of funding during the previous 12 months.
The figures provide further evidence that increasing numbers of successful SMEs are seeking private equity investors’ capital and expertise to drive their post-recession expansion plans.

Commenting on the report, Andrew Aylwin, Partner at Lyceum Capital, said: “The long-term investment outlook is positive. There is a bed-rock of SMEs requiring capital to consolidate their performance and complete the transformation into more mature, high-growth enterprises. This growth will ensure the lower mid-market continues to be a highly attractive asset class for private equity investment that is capable of creating consistently strong returns for investors.”

To go to The UK Growth Buyout Dashboard click here

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Fusion’s fifth deal in the energy services sector: Utility Masters Limited sold to M&C Energy Group

January 7, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

Fusion Corporate Partners are pleased to announce our latest deal, the sale of procurement and energy management consultancy Utility Masters Limited (UML) to M&C Energy Group, an energy procurement and compliance specialist. M&C Energy Group are a portfolio company of private equity business, Lyceum Capital.

Fusion Corporate Partners acted as exclusive advisers to the shareholders of UML.  Paul Kelly (pkelly@fusioncorp.co.uk) led the transaction at Fusion. It is the fifth energy services sector deal completed by Fusion. Previous deals were:

As previously reported on Fusion DigiNet, Lyceum Capital acquired McKinnon and Clark in January 2010 for £22 million.

This is M&C’s fourth acquisition in just 12 months and will see the Fife-headquartered company’s turnover increase to £40million. Already an established global player in cost analysis, carbon management, energy procurement, bill auditing, energy price risk management and carbon optimisation, the acquisition of UML adds further depth and breadth of expertise to the company’s existing services, innovative energy management solutions and carbon compliance. M&C now manages in excess of £6.25billion of energy consumption each year for 3,500 of the world’s largest energy users across 20 offices in 13 countries.

In 2010, M&C also acquired Australian firm Creative Energy Solutions and German consultancy ETT, increasing its international footprint. Earlier that year it acquired Encore International, a leading provider of energy price risk management services, which handles more than £2billion of procurement annually.

Dan Adler, Partner at Lyceum Capital, said: “This acquisition further highlights our commitment to creating one of the world’s leading energy management consultancies in M&C, with a broad range of complementary services and significant geographical reach. With a well-invested operational infrastructure, high calibre management team and financial muscle, M&C is well-placed to continue its expansion as we identify further opportunities for organic and acquisition-led growth.”

Simon Northrop, CEO of M&C, said: “Utility Masters is a well respected energy consultancy with significant expertise in supply management. This company is a natural fit for our business and supports M&C’s aggressive growth strategy. As the energy consultancy business matures, there will be less of an opportunity for smaller players to compete effectively with the services and product range offered by large international consultancies such as M&C. Our aim is to become a major global provider of energy management services and we are working on a number of further acquisitions, both in Europe and globally, to enable us to deliver on this objective.”

Following the acquisition, UML’s founding partners, Jim McGhie, Shaun McClarnon and Kevin Whaites, will join the M&C team.

Jim McGhie, Managing Director, Utility Masters Limited, said: “M&C is unquestionably one of the world’s leading energy consultancies with a strong reputation for excellence in customer services and product innovation. M&C’s global reach will bring significant benefits to our clients, many of whom require an integrated energy service across many sites worldwide. My partners and I are looking forward to working with M&C to drive forward this strong business.”

Paul Kelly, Director at Fusion, said “We were delighted to work with Jim, Kevin and Shaun. They built a fantastic business which meant we were able to run a highly competitive deal process. Even with all the acquisitions that have taken place in the energy services sector in 2010, it is still a fragmented market where even the biggest global players only have a small market share. We expect to see further consolidation in the market. Fusion continue to be active in the space in 2011”.

UK, Dunfermline and Oldham

Related links – Click here for the Energy Services sector news archive

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US information industry M&A report shows deal value and volume Up 36%

January 7, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

Berkery Noyes has released its 2010 Information Market M&A Trends Report. The report analyses merger and acquisition activity in the US Information Industry in 2010 and compares it with activity in the three previous years.

Highlights

  • Transaction volume in 2010 surpassed 2009 by 36 percent, climbing to 2,046 transactions.
  • Transaction value has increased by 36 percent as well, with $112 billion in aggregate acquisition value.
  • The median revenue and EBITDA multiple both increased over 2009, with the revenue multiple rising to 1.8 and the EBITDA multiple to 11.2, a 29 percent increase over the 8.7 of 2009.

“Multiples have started to make a return to pre-crisis levels,” said James Berkery, CIO of Berkery Noyes. “There are more deals happening and there are higher valuations. While we’re not at the levels we saw in 2007, I think we’re well on the road to recovery.”

Strategic acquirers have been the most common acquirer in the industry, yet financially sponsored transactions rose 39 percent by value over 2009 while losing 2 percent in volume over 2009. This trend of larger financially sponsored transactions is further evidenced by two of the top seven deals by value this year being made by financial acquirers: Interactive data Corporation’s acquisition by Warbug Pincus and Silver Lake Partners for $3.2 billion and Visma ASA’s acquisition by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. for $1.9 billion.

Google was not only the most active buyer in the information industry in 2010, with 28 acquisitions, but was also the most active buyer from 2007 through 2010, with 48 transactions during that time.

The largest transaction in 2010 was Intel Corporation’s announced acquisition of McAfee, Inc., for $7.55 billion.

To view the full report click here:

USA, New York, NY

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Kleinfelder acquires LPG Environmental & Permitting Services

January 6, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

Kleinfelder has acquired LPG Environmental & Permitting Services, a firm headquartered in Orlando that offers a diverse set of environmental consulting services. The transaction closed on Dec. 31, 2010.

“We are pleased to join forces with a company that has such a strong reputation and record of excellence,” said Bill Siegel, PE, president and CEO of Kleinfelder. “LPG’s wealth of knowledge in environmental planning and permitting as well as their reputation for environmental responsibility will only serve to strengthen Kleinfelder’s ability to deliver turnkey services to clients across the nation.”

Steve Adams, president of LPG, added, “We are thrilled to be part of a national firm that shares our values and dedication to the environment, our employees, our clients and our industry. Kleinfelder will provide our clients global resources and a diverse set of services, knowledge and experience. As partners, we will work synergistically to continue providing the innovative solutions our respective clients have come to expect.” S E A Consultants to become part of Kleinfelder

LPG employs 20 people in three Florida locations: Orlando, Jacksonville and Lakeland. Their offerings include a diverse set of environmental planning and permitting services that are key to Florida, such as endangered species evaluations and wetland consulting. LPG will now operate under the Kleinfelder name, providing additional capabilities and resources that will foster growth in the southeast.

Kleinfelder has been executing a strategic growth plan since 1992. Kleinfelder’s 2015 strategic goals strive to further demonstrate the company’s role as a trusted adviser to its clients through ongoing training for employees, increased involvement with universities and associations, and a focus on technically challenging projects that strengthen the company’s environmental planning and permitting core competencies: National Environmental Policy Act and state-equivalent studies, transit-oriented developments with land-use linkages, and site-specific restoration and resource management incorporating a watershed/ecosystem approach.

USA, Orlando, FL

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Platts completes acquisition of BENTEK Energy

January 5, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

Platts, a global provider of energy and metals information and a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.  has completed for an undisclosed cash sum its acquisition of BENTEK Energy, LLC, a privately held energy market analytics company headquartered in Evergreen, Colorado. DigiNet first reported the acquisition on December 14, 2010. Bentek, which provides analytics and information services to a blue-chip customer base in North America, is widely recognized as the industry leader in natural gas market fundamental analysis.

“Bentek’s expertise in utilizing data modeling to provide clients with business-critical analytics and insights strengthens Platts’ analytical capabilities and enables us to enhance the content and value of our North American and European natural gas products,” said Larry Neal, president of Platts.  

Bentek will continue to operate under its current name with its current management.

USA, New York, NY & Evergreen, CO

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