Centaur Media Plc sells financial services division to Metropolis

centaur-logoCentaur Media has sold its financial services division to Metropolis Group for £5 million.

The disposal follows Centaur’s decision last October to explore the divestment of its smaller businesses in order to simplify the Group’s structure and to focus management resources on its leading brands.

Metropolis has paid £5 million in cash for the division sold. Centaur will consider the best use for the proceeds following the completion of its divestment review.

Centaur’s financial services division comprises a portfolio of leading multi-channel publishing and content brands, including Money Marketing, Mortgage Strategy, Platforum, Taxbriefs and Headline Money. These brands generate advertising and other revenue by serving a range of audience segments within the financial services industry, including financial advisers, mortgage brokers, accountants and asset managers.

Andria Vidler, Chief Executive of Centaur, said, “This disposal continues the simplification of Centaur, further reducing our advertising exposure and allowing us to focus on developing products and services with stronger recurring revenues. A simpler group structure will allow us to deliver efficiencies and other operational benefits.

“Our financial services portfolio which includes Money Marketing has played a key role in the development of Centaur over the years, and I want to thank the teams for all their hard work. I am pleased that Metropolis sees the potential to develop the business further.”

Robert Marr, Chief Executive of Metropolis Group, added, “The acquisition continues the development of Metropolis and aligns with our vision of delivering sustainable profitable futures for well-managed media brands. We look forward to working together with the financial services team to further develop these long-standing market-leading brands.”

For the year ended 31 December 2018, Centaur’s financial services business made an adjusted operating profit of £1.2m, up from £0.6m in 2017, on revenues of £8.2m (2017: £8.9m). At 31 December 2018, the business had gross assets of £2.3m.

UK, London

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Acuris acquires Blackpeak

AcurisAcuris, a BC Partners and GIC-backed provider of financial data, intelligence, research and analysis, has acquired Blackpeak, an investigative research firm. Blackpeak will join Acuris’ Compliance division. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Co-founded by Jack Clode and Chris Leahy in 2011, Blackpeak is a premier provider of complex due diligence, research and investigation services, particularly in relation to capital markets, M&A and private equity.

Headquartered in Hong Kong, Blackpeak now operates from key financial and economic centers, including Singapore, Tokyo, Shanghai, Beijing, New York and Washington DC.

Hamilton Matthews

Hamilton Matthews CEO, Acuris

“We are delighted to welcome Jack, Chris and the Blackpeak team to the growing Acuris family. With its expert capabilities as a premium Enhanced Due Diligence services provider and impressive customer portfolio of global blue-chip customers, Blackpeak will enhance our Compliance division’s proposition considerably,” says Hamilton Matthews, CEO of Acuris. “We look forward to working together to support Blackpeak’s growth ambitions and meet the evolving demands of our customers.”

UK, London & Hong Kong

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ClearCourse Partnership acquires Circdata

clearcoursAquiline Capital Partners backed ClearCourse Partnership, a group of technology companies providing membership software and services, has acquired Circdata, a provider of event technology. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Founded in 1994 and headquartered in Newbury. The company employs around 55 people across its head office in the UK and R&D team in Poland. Circdata was originally a data management company and has since developed into an event technology business, providing software solutions to many of the world’s largest exhibition and conference organisers. Its proprietary software platform, Fusion, offers a suite of services that aide exhibitor management, visitor registration, ticket sales and subscriptions.

Following the acquisition, the company will be led by Chris Clipston, in his new role as Managing Director of Circdata, and the existing management team. James Ormiston, Circdata’s founder, will move to an advisory and consulting role.

Since its foundation in 2018, ClearCourse has acquired four other UK-based software and service providers: MillerTech, Silverbear, Clear Direct Debit and APT Solutions. Gerry Gualtieri, CEO of ClearCourse, says: “We are delighted to announce the addition of Circdata to the Partnership. Our mission is to foster talent and innovation in the membership software space, supporting the growth and development of dynamic tech companies through the provision of both capital and operational resource. Circdata’s addition to the group will create several operational and market synergies with our existing companies.

UK, London & Newbury, Berkshire

 

Dennis acquires Kiplinger

Dennis PublishingDennis Publishing has acquired Kiplinger Washington Editors, Inc., publisher of business forecasts and personal finance advice available in print and online. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Kiplinger, founded in 1920 in Washington, D.C. and run by three generations of the Kiplinger family, publishes the largest paid-subscription publications in several financial fields: the weekly Kiplinger Letter, the biweekly Kiplinger Tax Letter, the monthly Kiplinger’s Retirement Report and the monthly Kiplinger’s Investing for Income. Kiplinger’s Personal Finance, its most widely read product, has a 600,000-circulation monthly magazine and was first published in 1947, The Kiplinger.com website has around four million unique visitors and 30 million page views per month.

James Tye, Group CEO of Dennis, said: “Kiplinger is everything we look for in a business: It is blessed with strong brands that have developed a high degree of trust with their readers, allied to a vibrant, growing digital business. Kiplinger is run by an experienced leadership team that understand the value of authoritative and concise information in the finance category as well as the key role the various Kiplinger brands play in delivering excellent results for its advertising clients.”

Tye continued: “Kiplinger is a great fit for Dennis. It expands our presence into the finance category, an area we already have an impressive footprint in with the The Week and MoneyWeek. It is also a business with strong, recurring, subscription revenues; Dennis stands out as a company that is built around brands that readers trust and want to buy. I look forward to working with Denise Elliott and her talented team to keep growing the relevance, reach and revenues of the Kiplinger business.”

Denise Elliott, Senior VP and Chief Operating Officer at Kiplinger, will step up to run Kiplinger as CEO from the company’s Washington DC headquarters and will become part of the Dennis leadership team.

Knight Kiplinger, 71, will remain Chairman of KWE’s former parent, Outlook, Inc., and will serve as an informal advisor to Kiplinger and Dennis on editorial content, with the title of Editor Emeritus. None of Outlook’s real estate holdings in Maryland and Martin County, Fla., are part of the transaction, and will continue to be owned and managed by the Kiplinger family.

Dennis, with its US headquarters in Washington, was acquired by private equity firm Exponent in October 2018. Kiplinger is the first acquisition that Dennis has made in the US since it changed ownership. Dennis already owns The Week based in New York.

UK, London & USA, Washington, DC

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Daily Mail owner considering options for its Euromoney stake

Euromoney plcDaily Mail and General Trust plc (DMGT), commenting on recent media speculation, has announced that it is considering strategic options for its stake in Euromoney Institutional Investor Plc.

Euromoney is an international business-to-business information company focusing on the global financial community. Holding around 49% of the shares, DMGT is Euromoney’s largest shareholder.

DMGT said it has not received any proposal nor is it in discussions with any party to acquire its holding in Euromoney.

UK, London

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Future plc acquires Cycling News and Procycling

Future plcFuture plc has acquired two specialist consumer brands from Immediate Media: Co – CyclingNews.com and Procycling Magazine. The terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Launched in 1995, Cycling News has a brand reach of over 3.3 million and is, says Future, the world’s biggest pro-cycling website. Procycling launched in 1999 and publishes 13 print issues annually.

Future says it is dedicated to building specialist brands and that Cyclingnews and Procycling perfectly complement its consumer hobbies portfolio. According to Future, the cycling market is set to grow from £2.6bn to over £3bn by 2020. Public interest in professional cycling in the UK has grown during the past decade, buoyed by the success of Team GB and Team Sky during this period. With each of the Grand Tours of 2018 being won by British riders, the emerging success of Geraint Thomas and Simon Yates has further driven interest and enthusiasm for cycling within the UK. This has also been reflected in a good underlying trend in the UK cycling retail market, which has seen strong growth over this period and is forecast to continue to grow towards £3.0bn by 2020.

Zillah Byng-Thorne, CEO of Future, said, “The acquisition of these brands will expand our presence in the sport and outdoor leisure vertical and is a clear demonstration of our strategy to leverage enduring content on our technology platform to further diversify our revenue streams. Cycling News and Procycling are respected brands with leading market positions that will complement our existing portfolio whilst extending our reach into new adjacent communities. These brands are leading worldwide voices on professional cycling, offering analysis, insight, gorgeous photography and exclusive interviews with the industry greats.

“We have a proven methodology and track record of integration and we are confident that this deal will drive further growth in operating profitability and cash generation. You may remember that these brands were originally published by Future before we sold them to Immediate in 2014. Buying them back is a special moment for us to honour a piece of our heritage and a fantastic opportunity to expand our portfolio into the world of cycling.”

UK, London

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Pearson to sell its US K12 courseware business to Nexus Capital Management for $250M

Pearson LogoEducation business Pearson has agreed to sell its US K12 courseware business to alternative asset investment management company Nexus Capital Management LP for $250 million, made up of an initial cash payment of $25 million plus an unconditional vendor note for $225 million expected to be repaid in three to seven years. Following the repayment of the vendor note, Pearson is entitled to 20% of all future cash flows to equity holders and 20% of net proceeds in the event the business is sold.

Pearson’s US K12 courseware business provides textbooks and instructional resources to help teachers and students at every stage of K12 learning in the United States.  It employs approximately 1,330 people. It had gross assets of £648 million and net assets of £75 million as at 31 December 2018 and generated around £364 million of revenue and approximately £20 million of adjusted and statutory operating profit in 2018. The transaction is expected to complete at the end of the first quarter of 2019.

John Fallon, Pearson’s chief executive, said:

“School publishing in America has been an important part of Pearson for many years, and what it does matters to teachers and students across the country. We’re pleased to have found new owners who are committed to its future, and we wish it every success.  The sale frees us up to focus on the digital first strategy that will drive our future growth. Through our assessment, virtual school, advanced placement and career and technical education programmes, we will still serve schools across America and we will now be better placed to focus on the areas in which we can best help their students to be successful in their studies and future careers.”

UK, London & USA, Los Angeles, CA

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Mercator Media acquires Marine & Coastal Engineering Expo

Mercator MediaMercator Media Limited has acquired the Marine & Coastal Civil Engineering Expo (M&CCE Expo) from the Prysm Group. M&CCE Expo, an event showcasing the latest equipment and techniques in marine civil engineering and construction, is to co-locate with Seawork, which focuses on the same subject. The terms of the transaction were not disclosed. The M&CCE Expo 2019 will run from 11-13 June 2019 at Mayflower Park, Southampton UK.

Seawork

Mercator is a B2B media company with a 30-year history, serving the marine business with events, magazines and online. It publishes the pan-European commercial marine magazine Maritime Journal, and produces the Seawork exhibition, now in its 22nd year. Situated exclusively in its own dedicated exhibition arena, M&CCE will keep its own brand and identity and will run concurrently with the three days of Seawork.

Andrew Webster, chief executive of Mercator, said, ‘This is great news for visitors and exhibitors to both Seawork and M&CCE, with real synergies between the two. There is a big overlap in content and business for people involved in marine construction, from harbourmasters to consulting engineers to operations managers and anyone in vessel and marine equipment deployment.”

UK, Fareham & Southampton

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Anthem Publishing acquires Healthy Diet magazine

Anthem PublishingAnthem Publishing Ltd has acquired Healthy Diet magazine from Aceville Publications Ltd. The title joins Anthem’s portfolio of award-winning specialist food magazines, including Vegan Food & Living, Simply Vegan, Gluten-Free Heaven and Baking Heaven.

Healthy Diet aims to cut through confusion and fads that have flooded the health, nutrition and fitness industries to provide clear and sensible advice to anyone wanting to understand how to make healthy choices. Having spent the last eight years building brands dedicated to helping people enjoy and embrace their diet and lifestyle choices every day, Anthem is the perfect home for the continual development of Healthy Diet.

Managing Director Simon Lewis said, “We are excited to have the Healthy Diet brand as part of Anthem’s growing portfolio. It is a perfect fit not only with our existing food brands, but also with our recent acquisition of Women’s Running.”

The first issue of Healthy Diet under Anthem will be published on 14 March.

UK, Bath & London

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Informa sells Life Sciences Media Brands portfolio for over $100M

InformaExhibitions, events, business intelligence and publishing group Informa has sold its life sciences media brands portfolio to US-based healthcare education, market research and medical comms business, MJH Associates, for just over $100 million.

MJH Associates

The life sciences media brands portfolio was part of UBM which Informa bought for £3.9 billion last year. The transaction does not include the CBI events business, which had been combined with the branded life sciences business within the knowledge & networking division of Informa.

UK, London & USA, Cranbury Township, NJ

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