RWS Holdings acquires Article One Partners

October 2, 2017 — Fusion DigiNet

RWS1RWS Holdings plc, a provider of intellectual property support services and life sciences and commercial language services, has acquired Article One Partners, LLC, an IP information business based in the United States, for $8 million. AOP had revenues of $3.7 million for the year ended 31 December 2016,

 AOP’s online crowdsourcing platform links its clients to a community of over 42,000 researchers, across more than 170 countries, to provide them with access to IP intelligence that informs their litigation, licensing, patent enforcement and IP acquisition strategy decisions. The platform is able to match AOP’s clients’ requirements with researchers in the right technical field and geography.  

Andrew Brode, Chairman of RWS, commented: “The acquisition of AOP is a natural fit to accelerate the development of our growing Patent Information division and will provide clients with a complementary, online resource to aid their intellectual property research needs.

 “We see a number of opportunities for the business to benefit from RWS’s scale and global presence, particularly given our established sales team’s ability to offer clients the fuller range of intellectual property services across multiple geographies, so we are excited about the potential for this additional service going forward.”

Chalfont St Peter, Buckinghamshire, UK & New York, NY, USA

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Campus Management acquires Hobsons’ Admissions software business from DMGT

September 28, 2017 — Fusion DigiNet

CampusCampus Management Corp., a provider of cloud solutions and services for higher education institutions, has acquired the Hobsons’ Admissions software business from DMGT. The terms of the deal were not disclosed. 

The Admissions business consists of the Radius, AppReview, ApplyYourself, Connect, and Retain CRM and application management product lines. It accounted for approximately a quarter of Hobsons’ revenues in the year to date

The approximately 100-person team of CRM and application management staff will move across to Campus Management.

“As we continue to evolve our CampusNexus® engagement platform, fostering communications and relationships throughout the student lifecycle, we look to constantly improve upon what we offer to the market,” said Campus Management CEO Jim Milton. “The CRM and application management products add to our already strong CampusNexus suite to achieve that goal, and the addition of the very talented Hobsons team members reinforces our mission to deliver the higher education platform and services that enable institutions to transform their academic delivery, student success, and operational efficiency, on their terms.”

Boca Raton, FL & UK, London

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Informa acquires Dove Medical Press

September 26, 2017 — Fusion DigiNet

DoveInforma PLC has acquired Dove Medical Press, a privately held company specializing in the publication of Open Access peer-reviewed journals across the broad spectrum of science, technology and especially medicine. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.


Dove Medical Press was founded in 2003 with the objective of combining the highest editorial standards with the ‘best of breed’ new publishing technologies. The company has offices in Manchester and London in the United Kingdom, representatives in Princeton, New Jersey in the United States, and editorial offices in Auckland, New Zealand. 

Stephen A. Carter, Informa Group Chief Executive, said: “The addition of Dove Medical Press adds strength and capability to our OA portfolio, further increasing choice and flexibility for researchers across a widening range of subject areas. Its track record, publishing platform and growing reputation in Health Sciences enhance our Journals business, strengthening our position in the attractive and growing OA market.”

Dove Medical Press is an independent OA journals publisher, founded in 2003, producing a range of quality OA journals, mainly in Health Sciences, with additional content in Science and Technology. A large proportion of its journals are indexed by the Web of Science and PubMed and a growing number have established and improving impact factors. Leading titles include OncoTargets and Therapy, International Journal of Nanomedicine and Clinical Ophthalmology. 

The company has offices in Manchester and London in the United Kingdom, representatives in Princeton, New Jersey in the United States, and editorial offices in Auckland, New Zealand. 

Financial details were not disclosed but the transaction is expected to be modestly accretive to adjusted earnings in the first full year of ownership and deliver a return on investment ahead of the cost of capital within three years.

UK, London & Manchester

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XLMedia PLC acquires www.Moneyunder30.com for $7M

August 14, 2017 — Fusion DigiNet

XLMediaXLMedia, a provider of digital performance marketing, has acquired www.Moneyunder30.com (“MU30”), a US focused price comparison website for financial services, for $7 million.

MU30 is a personal finance site providing information for young adults wanting to make informed financial decisions, particularly around credit cards, loans, mortgages and savings accounts. The acquisition of MU30 helps XLMedia’s to expand further geographically in North America and to expand its footprint in the financial services sector.  XLMedia’s recently acquired of www.Greedyrates.ca, a Canadian focused credit card comparison website.

Ory Weihs, Chief Executive Officer of XLMedia, said, “As a leading personal finance review site, MU30 is a known publisher in the US, and with its existing footprint and brand recognition, it represents an excellent opportunity for XLMedia to increase its North American presence and expand within the financial services market.”

UK, Jersey, St. Helier & USA, Yarmouth, MA

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Centaur completes the acquisition of MarketMakers

August 3, 2017 — Fusion DigiNet

centaur-logoCentaur Media Plc has completed the acquisition of MarketMakers Incorporated Limited, an integrated marketing services businesses. The initial consideration is £13.4 million, followed by a deferred earnout amount based on EBITDA performance. 

MarketMakers had revenues of £11.4 million and adjusted EBITDA of £1.7 million for year ended 31 December 2016. It is ranked as the No.1 telemarketing agency in the UK by B2B Marketing and has achieved growth in revenues of 27% over the last three years.

Read the original Fusion DigiNet article Centaur acquires MarketMakers

The acquisition  follows the completion of the disposal of Centaur’s B2C division, Home Interest, on 1 August 2017.

Andria Vidler, Chief Executive, commented:

“Both the acquisition of MarketMakers and the disposal of Home Interest will help accelerate the transformation of Centaur into a pure B2B focussed business. These transactions will provide our increasingly professional customer base with a range of higher value-added products and services.”

UK, London

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A Fusion Deal: Layer123 sold to Euromoney

July 17, 2017 — Fusion DigiNet

layer123Layer123, a content and sponsorship-led events business focusing on innovation in the rapidly-evolving space of telecoms network strategy, has sold a 61% stake in the business to Euromoney. Fusion Corporate Partners acted as corporate advisor for Layer123. The Fusion team was led by Mark Eisenstadt, Director at Fusion. The terms of the deals were not disclosed. Euromoney has options to acquire the rest of the equity in Layer123 over the next few years.

EuromoneyLayer123 was launched in 2010 and offers telecoms network events specialising in knowledge exchange between technical and network strategy teams from telecoms operators, software and hardware vendors and other service providers. The main focus of the business is network innovation for carriers, including SDN (Software-Defined Networks), NFV (Network Functions Virtualization), SD-WAN (Software-Defined WAN), Security, 5G Core, Access & Transport Networking and Optical Networking.

The founders, Robert Jones and Mark Lum, will remain with the business for at least the next three years. Mark Lum is a widely respected analyst with over 30 years’ experience in carrier network markets. Robert Jones has 20 years’ experience in event organisation, founding and building some of the world’s leading telecoms networking conferences and exhibitions.

Layer123 will be managed as part of Rosalind Irving’s Telcap portfolio, further expanding Euromoney’s presence in the telecoms markets.

“Layer123 welcomes the opportunity to join the Euromoney family of events and knowledge-based businesses”, said Robert Jones. “We see real opportunities to build the business over the coming years within such a well-regarded organisation. As a fan of the Capacity events for well over a decade, I’m confident that Layer123 will feel very much at home. We look forward to working with you!”

mark-eisenstadt_f_1_120_1Speaking about the sale, Fusion’s Mark Eisenstadt said, “It was a pleasure to represent Mark Lum & Robert Jones and their market leading business, Layer123. They have created the industry knowledge exchange for network strategy professionals. Euromoney offer the right philosophy, experience and resources to help exploit the enormous market opportunities offered by this dynamic and disruptive innovation sector. Fusion previously represented Telcap in their acquisition by Euromoney and have witnessed it’s further meteoric growth under their guidance. We trust this new partnership will breed similar success.”

UK, London

Other Fusion Media & Business Information

List of all Fusion Transactions – HERE

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BC Partners sells minority stake in Mergermarket Group to GIC

June 30, 2017 — Fusion DigiNet

 

Private equity firm BC Partners has sold a 30% stake in the Mergermarket Group to GIC, the Singapore headquartered investment firm.

Founded in London in 2000, Mergermarket is a global financial intelligence company, providing corporate financial news and analysis through a wide variety of different products. It offers proprietary, forward-looking and actionable intelligence that cannot be accessed elsewhere, to a wide range of investor, advisory and corporate subscribers. Today, the company has over 1,200 staff in 65 different locations worldwide.

Mergermarket was acquired by BC Partners via a carve-out from Pearson plc in 2014 for £382 million and since that time has delivered impressive double-digit top-line growth each year, with EBITDA approximately doubling over the period. BC Partners has worked closely with the Mergermarket management team on a number of key initiatives to accelerate this growth, including transforming its IT platform, enhancing the data offering, and supporting seven strategic add-on acquisitions that have expanded the business into new product areas.Following the transaction, BC Partners will continue to hold more than a 60% stake in Mergermarket and will work closely alongside GIC as the company embarks on its next chapter of growth.

Nikos Stathopoulos, Managing Partner at BC Partners, commented: “BC Partners invested in Mergermarket due to its must-have data and information, attractive subscription-based business model, consistent track record of growth and strong management team. The company has gone from strength to strength over the past three years of our ownership and we are delighted to welcome GIC as our new partner in Mergermarket’s next growth phase.”

Choo Yong Cheen, CIO of Private Equity at GIC, commented: “Mergermarket is a clear leader in its sector led by a strong management team. The Company provides subscribers with essential and often proprietary content, driving strong renewal rates and impressive long-term growth. We look forward to working with BC Partners and supporting the business in achieving its ambitions over the coming years.”

Hamilton Matthews, CEO at the Mergermarket Group, commented: “We are delighted to welcome GIC as our new partner alongside BC Partners. Our business has grown tremendously and it is a testament to the hard work of everyone at the group that we are now joined on our ongoing journey by another prestigious investor such as GIC. We look forward to working with both BC Partners and GIC in exploring the exciting opportunities in front of us.”

UK, London and Singapore

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Euromoney acquires a 49% stake in BroadGroup

March 31, 2017 — Fusion DigiNet

Euromoney has acquired an initial 49% stake in BroadGroup, a London-based events and publishing business operating in the fast-growing area of data centre and cloud services, together with their financing. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

BroadGroup was founded in 2002 by an entrepreneur Philip Low who, over the past decade, has successfully built and hosted a series of events for data centre, cloud and IT infrastructure executives. In June, BroadGroup hosts its flagship event, Datacloud Global Congress, an annual event in Monaco attended by delegates from more than 50 countries and has additional events in the Nordic and Asia markets. It is the leading networking and deal making forum for data centre and cloud IT infrastructure end-users, software, solutions providers, investors and a broad range of companies engaged in the sector.

BroadGroup will be managed as part of Rosalind Irving’s Telcap portfolio, expanding Euromoney’s presence in the telecoms markets.

Rosalind Irving stated: “We admire the position in the market occupied by BroadGroup’s events and we feel that the business has excellent growth potential. This can be maximised by our two organisations joining forces to offer a valuable series of events for the dynamic and rapidly developing telecoms market”

“BroadGroup is focused on continued growth in data centre markets globally, and this exciting project joining forces with Euromoney allows us to accelerate the expansion of our flagship brands to become leaders in each region,” said Philip Low, chairman. “This new opportunity reinforces our strategy to deliver value for our customers, sponsors and delegates at events around the world.”

UK, London

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Euromoney acquires RISI, a leading price reporting agency, for $125 million

March 3, 2017 — Fusion DigiNet

Euromoney PLCEuromoney Institutional Investor is to acquire RISI, the price reporting agency for the global forest products market, for $125 million in cash.

Founded in 1985, RISI has been part of AXIO Group, an Epiris Managers’ business, since 2013. RISI is headquartered in USA, Bedford, Massachusetts, and employs 150 people across the United States, China, Belgium, Finland and Brazil.

risiIts product suite consists of pricing data, mill intelligence and analytics as well as news, research and conferences covering the pulp, packaging, wood products, wood fibre and saw logs markets. Its price indices are critical to the daily business operations and trading activities of major paper and board, packaging and other forest-product companies. 

 RISI’s products are embedded in the workflows of its customers who use RISI’s information to price physical transactions and inform their strategic decisions. Many of RISI’s 2200 price series are used as the main settlement mechanism in industry contracts. 

In calendar year 2016 RISI’s unaudited revenues were $29.6 million and its unaudited EBITDA was $7.7 million. RISI’s revenues are derived predominantly from selling subscription products and have high revenue renewal rates. RISI’s unaudited gross assets at December 31, 2016 were $29.8 million.  

On completion, Euromoney will pay $125 million in cash for RISI, funded from its existing revolving credit facility.  Completion is subject to Hart-Scott-Rodino approval in the United States, which is expected to take approximately four weeks. The acquisition is expected to be earnings-enhancing for Euromoney in its current financial year.

RISI will be managed as part of a new Price Reporting Division, alongside Metal Bulletin Group (Metal Bulletin, American Metal Market and Industrial Minerals), and will report into Raju Daswani, CEO of Metal Bulletin Group and head of the new Price Reporting Division.

Andrew Rashbass, CEO of Euromoney, said: “The acquisition of RISI is another important step in Euromoney’s strategy of building a portfolio of leading price reporting agencies in growing international markets. RISI is a very high-quality business which Euromoney is perfectly placed to grow further. We look forward to working with RISI management and employees around the world to offer the company’s customers products of the highest value.”

In its recent strategy update, Euromoney highlighted price discovery as a key investment theme. The acquisition of RISI follows the acquisition in August last year of FastMarkets, a provider of real-time metals market pricing information.

UK, London & USA, Bedford, MA

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Ascential plc acquires MediaLink for up to $207M

February 8, 2017 — Fusion DigiNet

ascentialAscential plc the B2B media company, is to acquire US-based media advisory and business services provider MediaLink for an initial cash price of $69 million plus earnouts.

The earnouts are payable over the period to February 2021 based on the adjusted EBITDA of the business for the three years 2017 to 2019 and are expected to total between $42m and $62m. The earnouts are payable in cash or, for certain elements, shares at Ascential’s option and a portion of the earn-out payments is subject to founders remaining in employment with the company. The total aggregate consideration, including initial consideration and earn out payments, is capped at $207m and requires stretching profit targets to be reached.

MediaLink reported unaudited revenue of $54 million and adjusted PBT of $14 million in 2016, with year-on-year growth of 29% and 24% respectively, and had gross assets of $11 million at December 2016.

The company serves the consumer goods and services segment and operates from four offices in the U.S. Michael Kassan founded Medialink in 2003, he will continue to run the business.

Duncan Painter, Chief Executive Officer of Ascential plc, said: “MediaLink is a leader in its industry, with a strong and very visible brand presence in the US. MediaLink is an excellent fit with our existing Ascential offering and I am confident we can help accelerate MediaLink’s business into new markets by using our assets and infrastructure over the coming months and years. I see synergies between MediaLink and our portfolio of products to significantly help accelerate our existing businesses and create additional value for shareholders.”

UK, London & USA, New York, NY

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