Zoopla acquires Hometrack for £12M

February 1, 2017 — Fusion DigiNet


zooplapropertyZoopla Property Group Plc is to acquire Hometrack.co.uk Limited, the UK provider of residential property market insights and analytics, for £120 million.

Established in 1999, Hometrack provides residential property market insights, analytics, valuations and data services to around 400 mortgage lenders, new home developers, investors, housing associations and local authorities. 

The total consideration is £120 million on a cash-free, debt-free basis with £108 million due on completion and £6 million payable on each of the first and second anniversary following completion. Hometrack has a CAGR of c.15% from FhometrackY13-FY16 and generated revenues of £15.5 million and adjusted EBITDA of £7.1 million in the year to 30 June 2016. The consideration represents a 14.7x multiple based on LTM to Dec-16 adjusted EBITDA for Hometrack. The value of Hometrack’s gross assets was £13.1 million as at 30 June 2016.

The acquisition will be financed through a combination of existing cash resources, a new £75 million term loan and an equity placing of up to 5% of Zoopla’s ordinary issued share capital.

Alex Chesterman, Founder & CEO of Zoopla commented, “We are delighted to announce the acquisition of Hometrack, the clear market leader in AVM services in the UK and a leading player in Australia. The deal will allow us to serve our consumers and partners even more effectively and gives us unrivalled data capabilities in the residential property market. Hometrack is a perfect fit to develop our data services business and I look forward to welcoming Charlie and his team to the ZPG (Zoopla) family.”

Hometrack provides its products to 15 of the top 20 mortgage lenders in the UK as well as all 4 leading Aushometracktralian mortgage lenders and its UK automated valuation model is recognised by all the major ratings agencies. Over 70% of Hometrack’s revenues are subscription-based and underpinned by long-term relationships.

Hometrack has 55 staff operating out of offices in London and Sydney. Following completion, Hometrack will continue to operate as a standalone brand and platform with the team forming the cornerstone of Zoopla’s data services business, which will be headed up by Charlie Bryant, CEO of Hometrack.

UK, London

Related articles:

Posted in Content Media, Internet Media, Market Data & Information, ~Europe, ~Oceana. Leave a Comment »

Bowmark and Five Arrows sell Autodata

January 5, 2017 — Fusion DigiNet

autodata1Bowmark Capital, the mid-market private equity firm, and Five Arrows Principal Investments, the private equity business of Rothschild Merchant Banking, have sold Autodata, the provider of technical information to the automotive aftermarket, to Solera Holdings, Inc. for of £340 million. Solera is a provider of risk and asset management software and services to the automotive and property marketplace. The transaction is expected to complete in February 2017.

Established in 1975, Autodata publishes technical information on approximately 40,000 vehicle models from 136 manufacturers. Its products provide over 90,000 professional workshops with access to a comprehensive suite of up-to-date technical data and guidance on cars, light commercial vehicles and motorcycles, enabling them to carry out service, repair and diagnostic work.

Since Bowmark and Five Arrows Principal Investments acquired the company in May 2014, Autodata has significantly enhanced its content and technology platform, and expanded its customer base in Europe and Australia. It has also made three strategic acquisitions in France, Sweden and Finland. Its latest online product, which attracts over 840,000 page views per day, provides an essential workflow tool to over 120,000 automotive technicians, enabling them to conduct their day-to-day activities efficiently and effectively.

Rod Williams, Autodata’s chief executive, commented: “With the support of Bowmark and Five Arrows, we have achieved significant growth over the past two and a half years, driven by new product innovation, investment in people and expanding our footprint in our core markets. Our products and services represent an excellent fit with those of Solera, and we are excited at the new opportunities which being part of the Solera group will bring – to Autodata, its customers and its employees.”

Bowmark partner, Julian Masters, said: “Since 2014, Bowmark and Five Arrows have worked closely with Autodata to enhance its product offering and accelerate its growth. The company is well-positioned to continue its success under its new owner.”

UK, London & Maidenhead, Kent

Related Articles:

Posted in Content Media, Market Data & Information, ~Europe. Leave a Comment »

Pageant Media acquires Hedge Fund Intelligence from Euromoney

January 3, 2017 — Fusion DigiNet

pageant-mediaPageant Media, the business information specialist has acquired Hedge Fund Intelligence from Euromoney Institutional Investor. The terms of the deal were not disclosed. Hedge Fund Intelligence provides a series of business information, data and workflow products – including EuroHedge and AsiaHedge – and global events, which provide a 360-degree view of the hedge fund world.

Pageant Media is one of the financial sector’s fastest growing providers of intelligence and insight. The company, founded in 1998, provides membership services offering senior professionals – across a range of industries, including hedge funds, mutual funds and real estate – exposure to market leading news and analysis, data and events.

This acquisition provides Pageant Media with a series of synergies and brand extension opportunities for its existing market-leading hedge fund brand, HFM, and will increase the company’s scale and reach in the global hedge fund space.

Commenting on today’s announcement, Charlie Kerr, Chief Executive of Pageant Media, said: “This latest deal will enable to Pageant Media significantly to enhance its business information offering to the hedge fund industry. As with the recent acquisition of II Searches, we look forward to integrating these brands into our business and evolving their digital offering. These products will also benefit from Pageant’s belief in strong content, user engagement and creating a membership model that delivers real value.”

Staff from both the UK and US will join Pageant Media’s London and New York offices.

UK, London & USA, New York

Related articles:

 

Posted in Content Media, Internet Media, Market Data & Information, Publishers, ~Europe, ~North America. Leave a Comment »

Haynes Publishing Group acquires OATS

December 15, 2016 — Fusion DigiNet

haynesHaynes Publishing Group has acquired OATS Limited for £2.4 million. OATS is a niche technology business that provides information and productivity solutions for the lubricants sector of the oil industry.

Haynes is paying £1.85 million payable in cash on completion plus an additional £0.55 million payable within 18 months of completion.

For its financial year ended 30 June 2016, the reportable pre-tax loss of the OATS Group was £0.1 million on revenue of £2.2 million. As at 30 June 2016, the OATS Group had gross assets of £3.3 million.

Formed in 1983, OATS is a Swindon based company with 35 employees that has been servicing the world’s major lubricants businesses under the ownership of Sebastian Crawshaw for the past 20 years.

OATS has developed a comprehensive equipment and lubricants database that supports customers from across the lubricants marketing and supply chain, ranging from original equipment manufacturers, oil companies and lubricant distributors to end-users such as workshops, motor parts resellers and garages. 

J Haynes, CEO of Haynes said: “We look forward to welcoming the OATS team to the Haynes Group. I am delighted that Sebastian will remain involved in a consultancy capacity to facilitate a smooth transition. The OATS global lubricants database will enhance HaynesPro’s digital data solutions to the professional market. At the same time, we will leverage our European commercial network to drive new business for OATS. The acquisition will accelerate management’s drive to grow the HaynesPro business, increasing Group revenue and profit.”

UK, Yeovil, Somerset & Swindon, Wiltshire

Related articles:

Posted in Content Media, Market Data & Information, Publishers, ~Europe. Leave a Comment »

Ascentual acquires One Click Retail

September 25, 2016 — Fusion DigiNet

ascentialAscential plc, the  business-to-business media company has acquired US-based e-commerce analytics provider Oneclickretail.com LLC for an initial cash consideration of $44 million plus future earn outs.  

Future earn outs, based on multiples of adjusted EBITDA, are payable in the four years 2016 to 2019  in cash or, for certain elements, shares at Ascential’s option.  A portion of the earn-out payments is also subject to founders remaining in employment with the company.  The total aggregate consideration, including initial consideration and earn out payments, is capped at $225 million in the event that stretching profit targets are reached. The transaction is expected to complete on 31 August 2016.

one-clickOne Click Retail provides data analytics to help brands optimise their eCommerce activities.  Customers include Procter & Gamble, HP, Unilever, Hamilton Beach, Nestle and Panasonic.  Revenue is generated predominantly through recurring annual subscriptions to the company’s Dashboard product which provides insights to help customers drive sales through Amazon and other eCommerce retailers.  The insights focus on product market share, its drivers, and the actions that can be taken to increase sales.

 One Click Retail had revenue of $4.9 million and Adjusted EBITDA of $3.4 million for the twelve month period ending December 2015, with a year-on-year growth of 59% and 78% respectively.  Gross assets at December 2015 amounted to $0.8 million.  Annualised subscription contract value stood at $10.1 million as of July 2016.

Duncan Painter, Chief Executive Officer of Accentual said, “We are delighted to welcome One Click Retail and Spencer and his team to Ascential.  It is a quality business that we have been tracking for some time in an exciting part of the retail vertical.  As a high-growth, globally scalable subscription information service product, One Click Retail fits with Ascential’s strategy of owning scalable, global market-leading products and we look forward to helping its talented management team to accelerate its growth.”

The company was founded in 2013 by former Amazon and Walmart executive Spencer Millerberg, and is based in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA.

UK, London & USA, Salt Lake City, UT

Posted in Conference/Exhibitions/Events, Content Media, e-Commerce, Internet Media, Market Data & Information, ~Europe. Leave a Comment »

Informa acquires Penton, the US- based Exhibitions and Information Services group, for £1.2bn.

September 16, 2016 — Fusion DigiNet

Informa, the Business Intelligence, Exhibitions, Events and Academic Publishing Group, is to acquire Penton, the independent US- based Exhibitions and Professional Information Services group, from MidOcean Partners and Wasserstein & Co for £1.18bn.

The Acquisition will be funded through a combination of new debt and equity, including a fully underwritten rights issue of one Rights Issue Shares at 441 pence each for every four Existing Informa Shares to raise £715m. The Sellers will receive £1,105m consideration in cash and £76m in new Informa equity with a holding period of up to one year. Within this, £6m is to be paid to the management of Penton who own shares in the New York-based Group.

Based on Penton’s results for the 12 months ended 30 June 20161, the Board consider that these results imply a trailing acquisition multiple of approximately 11x adjusted EBITDA.

The acquisition will create one of the world’s largest owner/operators of Exhibitions, Events and Conferences. On completion, Informa’s US business will account for 47% of annual pro-forma revenues. It will also mean that less than 10pc of Informa’s revenue will be earned in the UK.

Penton’s portfolio of around 30 Exhibitions includes brands in Natural Products & Food (Natural Products Expo), Agriculture (Farm Progress), TMT (IWCE), Infrastructure (WasteExpo) and Transportation (MRO Event Portfolio).

Additionally, Penton has more than 20 digital subscription data Brands in verticals including Infrastructure (Equipment Watch), Transportation (Aviation Week Intelligence Network) and Design & Manufacturing (SourceESB), and a portfolio of 100+ print and digital B2B insight products .

informa-carterStephen A. Carter, Group Chief Executive, said: “Today we are announcing continued progress on our Growth Acceleration Plan with the proposed addition of Penton Information Services. This combination will further strengthen our capabilities in Global Exhibitions and Business Intelligence and extend our US presence.”

ACQUISITION TIMETABLE

The acquisition is expected to complete by early November.

15 September 2016

Announcement date

15 September 2016

Posting of Circular to shareholders and Prospectus published

10 October 2016

General Meeting for Shareholders

11 October 2016

Admission of Rights Issue Shares and dealings in Nil Paid Rights on the London Stock Exchange

26 October 2016

Results of Rights Issue announced

26 October 2016

Dealings in Rights Issue Shares, fully paid, commence on the London Stock Exchange

November 2016

Expected date of completion

UK, London & USA, New, York

Related articles:

Informa

Penton

Posted in Conference/Exhibitions/Events, Content Media, Internet Media, Market Data & Information, Publishers, ~Europe, ~North America. Leave a Comment »

Euromoney acquires FastMarkets for £13M

August 15, 2016 — Fusion DigiNet

Euromoney plcEuromoney Institutional Investor PLC is to acquire FastMarkets Ltd. On completion, Euromoney expects to make a cash payment of approximately £13m for the business. 

FastMarkets is a provider of real-time metals market information. It will become  part of Euromoney’s portfolio of digital pricing products that include Metal Bulletin and American Metal Market. 

fastmarketsEstablished in 1999, FastMarkets is used by non-ferrous and precious metals traders and risk managers as a workflow tool. Through its online platform, it provides over 120 proprietary price assessments, combined with exchange data including futures prices from the world’s largest commodity exchanges such as the LME and the CME. It provides coverage of non-ferrous physical premiums plus supporting treasury data supported by market commentary including webcasts directly from the LME floor. It also delivers daily technical and fundamental reports to its users. 

Metal Bulletin’s Managing Director Raju Daswani said: “FastMarkets is an excellent business that perfectly complements Metal Bulletin’s portfolio of price reporting and information products. Recent volatility in base metal markets has highlighted the need for high-quality price reporting on the physical metal markets to supplement the price discovery function of the world’s commodity futures exchanges. This acquisition complements Metal Bulletin and extends Euromoney’s global coverage of metals markets.”

UK, London

Related articles:

Posted in Content Media, Market Data & Information, Publishers, ~Europe. Leave a Comment »

Wilmington acquires Evantage Consulting

March 30, 2016 — Fusion DigiNet

WilmingtonWilmington plc has acquired Evantage Consulting Ltd, a UK-based provider of specialist Healthcare and Pharmaceutical Analytics solutions.

Wilmington, through its healthcare analytics subsidiary NHiS, has partnered with Evantage for over five years. The acquisition will sit within Wilmington’s Insight division.

Wilmington is paying an initial £1.4m with a deferred cash consideration of up to £4.6m by 2020 based on profit based targets.

In the year to 31 October 2015, Evantage reported revenues of £1.1 million and profits before tax of £0.9 million. Gross assets were £1.2 million.

Commenting on the acquisition, Pedro Ros, Chief Executive Officer of Wilmington, said: “I am delighted to welcome Evantage to Wilmington. With this addition to our Group we advance one of our strategic objectives of building our competency in healthcare analytics which will allow us to be even better placed to deliver our clients the insight they need to optimise their businesses.”

Evantage was established in 2001 by Julian Snape and Chris Wiggins to provide outsourced analytics and resource optimisation solutions for the UK pharmaceutical industry. Snape and Wiggins will continue in the business post acquisition.

UK, London

Related articles:

Posted in Consultancy, Content Media, Market Data & Information, Publishers, ~Europe. Leave a Comment »

IHS and Markit to merge

March 21, 2016 — Fusion DigiNet

ihsmarkitFinancial data companies IHS and Markit are merging. Based on the closing prices of IHS and Markit common stock on March 18, 2016, the implied equity value of the transaction is more than $13 billion. The deal is expected to close in the second half of 201

The combined company will be renamed IHS Markit and will be headquartered in London and have operations based in Englewood, Colorado. IHS shareholders will own approximately 57 percent and Markit shareholders will own approximately 43 percent of the combined company.

The combined company’s reported results for fiscal year 2015 include approximately: $3.3 billion in revenue, $1.2 billion in adjusted EBITDA, and $800 million in free cash flow. IHS Markit will have more than 50,000 key customers.

IHS makes most of its revenues from energy and automotive data, while Markit focuses on financial information and is best known for its purchasing managers’ index.

Jerre Stead, IHS Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, will assume the role of Chairman of the Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer of IHS Markit. Lance Uggla, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Markit, will be President and a member of the Board of Directors.

Uggla will assume the role of Chairman of the Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer of IHS Markit when Stead retires on December 31, 2017. The Board of Directors of the combined company will be comprised of 11 members, with IHS designating six members (including the chairman) and Markit designating five members (including the lead director) from their current boards.

UK, London & USA, Englewood, CO

Related articles:

Posted in Content Media, Internet Media, Market Data & Information, Publishers, ~Europe, ~North America. Leave a Comment »

Progressive Digital Media Group acquires GlobalData Holding Limited

January 14, 2016 — Fusion DigiNet

progressiveProgressive Digital Media Group Plc is to acquire GlobalData Holding Limited, a company owned by Mike Danson (Executive Chairman of Progressive Digital Media Group) and Wayne Lloyd for approximately £66.5 million.

On completion the company name will be changed to GlobalData plc. Bernard Cragg will be appointed as Chairman, Michael Danson as Chief Executive Officer and Simon Pyper as Chief Financial Officer

The Company has also announced that its subsidiary, PDMH, has also conditionally agreed to dispose of the entire issued share capital of PTML (a company which holds Progressive’s non-core B2B assets) to Research Views Limited, a company also controlled by the Vendors, for a consideration of £1, together with the indirect assumption by the Company of an inter-company loan of £4.5 million owing by PTML to PDMH.

A General Meeting of the Company will therefore be held on 19 January 2016 for Shareholders to approve the acquisition and disposal.

UK, London

Related articles:

Posted in Content Media, Internet Media, Market Data & Information, Publishers, ~Europe. Leave a Comment »
« Older posts
Newer posts »