Reed Business Information acquires Ascend

June 29, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

Fusion DigiNet has mainly reported on RBI selling businesses over the last year. For the second time in a month we are able to report on an RBI acquisition.

Reed Business Information, publisher of www.flightglobal.com, Flight International and Airline Business magazines, ACAS and Air Transport Intelligence, has acquired Ascend Worldwide Group Holdings Limited. Ascend will be integrated with RBI’s aerospace information and data services business, Flightglobal.

Ascend, headquartered in London with offices in New York, Hong Kong and Tokyo, delivers aircraft and engine data through online subscription services and provides valuations, appraisals and advisory services to a world-wide client base spanning aviation investors and financiers, lessors, manufacturers, operators and suppliers.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed. However, it is likely that the deal works very well for Ascend’s private equity backer, Lloyds Development Capital. LDC acquired its initial holding in Ascend when in 2005 it backed a £10 million MBO of Airclaims, the provider of aviation claims, risk and asset management services. In July 2006, the information and consultancy division of Airclaims was re-branded “Ascend”. In August 2007, Ascend began trading as a separate entity.

Over the past five years Ascend has undergone rapid expansion. Ascend’s revenues have risen by 20% per annum over the previous three years and the number of employees has increased by 50%. In April 2010 LDC injected new capital and increased its stake in Ascend. The new capital commitment doubled LDC’s total investment in the company to £12million. LDC still owns Airclaims.

Ascend brings to Flightglobal an impressive position in the global air finance market,” says Jane Burgess, RBI managing director. “This exciting acquisition adds important new data assets and expertise to Flightglobal’s existing aviation data business and provides Ascend with access to Flightglobal’s powerful global aviation audience and extensive marketing capabilities.”

“I am very excited about the opportunities that the combination of Ascend and Flightglobal will bring.” says Gehan Talwatte, Ascend CEO. “By combining our insight and expertise with Flightglobal’s growing global audience, distribution capabilities and unrivalled media presence, we can significantly extend the reach of the Ascend brand.”

Further reading – Alasdair Whyte’s blog

UK, London

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SPARK Ventures sells half its stake in Mind Candy valuing the business as US$200m

June 29, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

SPARK Ventures has sold half of its stake in Mind Candy, the makers of kids pet monster games website moshimonsters.com, for $3.1 million. It values the business at US$200m based on the price paid for SPARK Ventures shares.

Moshimonsters has over 50m registered players worldwide, has successfully launched the sale of physical monster toys in major toy shops and launched the Moshimonsters magazine. Moshimonsters has a significant American and international client base. Mind Candy is headquartered in London and has around 70 staff.

Thomas Teichman, Chairman of SPARK Venture Management Ltd (which manages all SPARK’s assets) and Director of Mind Candy Inc. said ” At start up we backed the brilliantly creative and visionary founder of Mind Candy, Michael Acton Smith, in 2004, and are impressed and delighted by its rapid growth and popularity among children in over 180 countries. Its the second time we have successfully backed the founder in the last 12 years having backed Firebox.com, a successful B to C business, also at start up by Michael in 1999.”

UK, London

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EMAP’s annual report for year ended 31 December 2010 – Highlights

June 28, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

EMAP International Limited, the media business jointly owned by funds managed by Apax Partners Europe Managers Ltd and Guardian Media Group plc, has published its annual report to year ending 31st December. During the prior period the Group changed its year-end from the 31 March to 31 December. Wherever possible this Fusion DigiNet article compares the 12 month performances of years ending March 2009 and March 2010.

Highlights

  • Operating profit before amortisation of intangible assets and exceptional items was £81m, (9 month period ended 31 December 2009: £58m)
  • Sales were £244m (9 month period ended 31 December 2009: £164m).

The group saw revenue and profit grow in its two largest divisions: online intelligence and exhibitions and festivals. It also saw strong growth in its smaller Middle East unit.

However, these gains were offset by reductions elsewhere relating to spending in the UK public sector, especially in health and local government. This impacted trading in the Group’s publishing division which saw a marked year on year reduction in spending in public sector recruitment advertising and in its conference unit which saw lower delegate attendees to its one day event programmes serving public sector interests.

The year on year revenue reduction from these two public sector related sources amounted to £10m. Growth in the rest of the business brought the Group’s total revenue back within 1% of the prior year total.

 Acquisition Activity

The Group made three acquisitions during the year. In September 2010 100% of the share capital of Best Energy Event Ltd and related magazines was acquired for £2.6m. The company runs the Energy Event and Water, Energy & Environment, a magazine in the same sector. In November 2010 the Group acquired the remaining stake in Broadcast Video Expo for £1.8 million, bringing ownership up to 100%. In December 2010 the Futuresource Event was acquired for £2.1m. Futuresource operates in the same sector as Recycling and Waste Management and the two exhibitions will be combined.

Emap sold its investment in its Professional Beauty assets to a new joint venture in which it retains a beneficial holding. A loss of £17m was realised on the disposal, however, Emap has retained the brand which is licensed to the new joint venture.

Cash flow and debt

The Group remains highly cash generative, generating £53m, (9 month period ended 31 December 2009: £45m) net cash inflow before financing activities. Cash generation accelerated in 2010, leading to a higher level of operating cash flows of £78m (9 month period ended 31 December 2009: £41m).

Performance of the five divisions

  • EMAP Inform – generated revenues of £53m (year ended 31 December 2009: £60m)
  • EMAP Data and Insight – generated revenues of £80m (year ended 31 December 2009: £78m)
  • EMAP Connect – generated revenues of £78m (year ended 31 December 2009: £77m)
  • EMAP Networks – generated revenues of £14m (year to 31 December 2009: £17m)
  • EMAP Middle East – generated revenues of £19m (year ended 31 December 2009: £17m)

Read the full report here.

UK, London

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Smart Metering Systems to float on AIM with a market capitalisation of £50M

June 27, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

Smart Metering Systems has announced its flotation on AIM. Dealings in the Group’s shares will commence on 8 July 2011. The Group’s ticker symbol will be SMS.L. The market capitalisation of the Group at the Placing Price will be £50 million. The proceeds will be used to fund the organic growth of the business through investment in gas meter assets and the Group’s patent pending ADM smart metering device.

The company has already raised £10.0 million of new investment from a broad range of institutional and other investors at a price of 60 pence per share.

For the year ended 31 December 2010 Smart Metering Systems reported revenue of £12.4m and EBIT of £2.2m.

Alan Foy, Chief Executive Officer said: “I am delighted by the level of interest shown by our new shareholders to our flotation on the London Stock Exchange. The Placing has gone well and has been substantially oversubscribed in very difficult market conditions, demonstrating the strength of our business model”

Cenkos Securities plc is acting as Nominated Adviser and Broker to the Group.

UK, Glasgow

 

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Intent Media acquires UBM titles for £2.4m

June 27, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

Independent business media specialist Intent Media is to acquire the UK entertainment and technology product portfolio of UBM plc for a total cash consideration of £2.4m.

Intent specialises in entertainment, technology and leisure markets. Its portfolio already consists of over a dozen market leading online, print and event brands across video games, music, computing, mobile, toys, licensing and cycling.

The titles being acquired include Television Broadcast Europe, Music Week, Pro Sound News Europe and Installation Europe, plus additional websites, newsletters, conferences, show dailies and awards events. Last year this portfolio generated £5.4m of revenue.

Intent Media is headquartered in Hertford, England but is opening an additional office in Islington Green, London, this summer. Up to 36 staff will transfer on completion of the deal and total staff count will rise to around 90, with projected combined revenues of over £10 million for the financial year ending September 30th 2012.

“This is a significant move for Intent, essentially doubling the size of the company. We are heading into markets that fit our current landscape, whilst also continuing our policy of holding a leadership position wherever we operate. The brands we are taking over are well established, with experienced staff and impressive heritage,” said Intent Media managing director Stuart Dinsey.

“Intent has become the UK’s leading business media player in entertainment and technology. We are very excited to have added these new brands. Our policy of investment in online and events will continue, whilst ensuring longevity where possible for the core print titles.”

UBM is selling the portfolio on behalf of its UBM Connect division. The transaction is expected to complete in the next six weeks, subject to the conclusion of a TUPE consultation process.

“I am pleased we will pass stewardship of these well-established entertainment and technology titles to Intent Media, which focuses on serving specialist entertainment, technology and leisure markets,” said UBM Connect CEO Adrian Barrick.

Existing core Intent Media brands include MCV: The Market for Computer & Video Games, Develop, ToyNews, Mobile Entertainment, Bikebiz, PCR, Musical Instrument Professional, Audio Professional International and Licensing.biz.

Events run by Intent include The London Games Conference, MI Retail Conference & Expo, Monetising Mobile Conference and sundry trade awards.

Intent Media’s previous acquisitions:

  • MCV launched in September 1998 (when we were MCV Media Limited)
  • Develop acquired November 2000
  • ToyNews acquired June 2001
  • Management buy-out from German listed outfit Computec (and became Intent Media) March 2002
  • CTW acquired (from Highbury) and incorporated into MCV March 2002
  • CTO acquired (from Trinity Mirror) and incorporated into PCR 2006
  • BikeBiz acquired in February 2006
  • MI Pro acquired in March 2006
  • Audio Pro International acquired in March 2006
  • Music Trade News accquired (and incorporated into MI Pro) July 2008
  • All assets of Skep Media acquired January 2009
  • All assets of Prestige Media acquired January 2009

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The Economist Group achieves record profits

June 23, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

The Economist Group – Year end results for year-ending March 2011

  • Revenue grew by 9% to £347m
  • Advertising overall increased by 15%, with print advertising up 14% and digital advertising up 23%.
  • Operating margin improved to 18.2%. The year benefited from an additional four months of the CQ acquisition and was also helped by a stronger dollar.
  • Operating profit for the Group increased by 10% over last year to £63.3m.
  • Costs increased by 8% overall, but were also affected by acquisitions and disposals and the stronger dollar.
  • Underlying costs increased by 6%, partly driven by growth but mainly because of additional investments including marketing activity for The Economist, the development of digital editions and other initiatives.
  • Profit before tax at £59.5m was 19% higher than last year.
  • Interest costs increased by £1.0m, reflecting the full-year impact of borrowings taken out to finance the CQ acquisition, offset by the benefits of repaying other bank debt taken out to refinance earlier acquisitions.
  • Profit after tax increased by 16% to £44.2m.
  • Normalised earnings per share were 176.5p, an increase of 8% year on year.

The Board is recommending a final dividend of 78.5p, making the full-year dividend 112.6p. This is a 10% increase on the previous year, excluding the special dividend of 39.7p per share paid to shareholders in December.

According to Rupert Pennant-Rea, Chairman of the Economist Group, “This good result came mainly from three areas: an advertising recovery at The Economist; a full year’s ownership of CQ, the business we bought in August 2009; and tight control of overheads.”

The full annual report is available here.

UK, London

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Facebook acquires the Sofa team

June 23, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

Facebook has acquired Sofa. Ot at least the Sofa team. Facebook is not acquiring Sofa’s Kaleidoscope and Versions software applications.

Sofa is Amsterdam-based software and design company, founded in 2006. They make web and Mac applications: and design icons and interfaces.

The Sofa team will be moving from Amsterdam to Palo Alto in the coming weeks – and according to the Sofa blog, they will “make sure to infuse some of our particular flavor of Dutch culture at Facebook.”

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

USA, Palo Alto, CA & The Netherlands, Amsterdam

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Euromoney Institutional Investor to acquire Ned Davis Research Group for £69M

June 21, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

Euromoney Institutional Investor PLC (“Euromoney”), the international publishing, events and electronic information group, has agreed terms to acquire Ned Davis Research Group (“NDRG”), the US-based provider of independent financial research to institutional investors.

On completion, Euromoney expects to pay approximately US$112 million (£69 million) for an initial 87% interest in NDRG. The consideration will be funded from Euromoney’s existing committed borrowing facility. The remaining interest in NDRG will be acquired under an earn-out agreement, in two equal instalments, based on the profits of NDRG for the years to December 31 2012 and 2013. The maximum amount payable for a 100% interest in NDRG is $173 million. NDRG’s pre-tax profit for the year to December 31 2010 was US$11.8 million and the value of its gross assets at May 31 2011 was US$11.2 million.

UK, London & USA, Venice, FL

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UBM acquires 70% of US catering tradeshow business Catersource for $5 million

June 21, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

United Business Media has acquired a 70% equity stake in the Catersource catering conference and exhibition and its sister show Event Solutions, which serves the event planning industry. UBM has acquired the majority stake from Catersource’s private owners for a total cash consideration of $5 million, on behalf of UBM Live.

Founded in 1982 and based in Minneapolis, Catersource hosts an annual conference and exhibition for the USA catering and event planning industry, as well as awards events and supporting print and digital marketing platforms. The events take place annually during February and March in Las Vegas. This year’s Catersource and Event Solutions shows attracted over 10,000 delegates and more than 4,500 sponsor and exhibitor companies.

USA catering industry revenues grew at 9% in 2010 – exceeding $14 billion – with similar rates of growth forecast for this year. The USA catering industry is highly fragmented, comprising approximately 80,000 catering operations nationwide. Catersource serves both the institutional and private segments of the catering industry.

Catersource will become part of UBM Live, adding to UBM Live’s portfolio of events serving the Food & Leisure industries both in the USA and internationally. The portfolio includes brands such as Cruise Shipping, Food Ingredients, Health Ingredients, Leisure Industry Week and Confex.

Founder Michael Roman and his partner Kelvin Lee, together with Catersource’s 13 employees, will remain with the business following completion of the acquisition. In 2010 Catersource generated approximately $4 million of revenue.

The acquisition is expected to meet UBM’s cost of capital hurdle rate in its first full year of ownership.

Simon Foster, Chief Executive of UBM Live said:

“Catersource is the leading events business in the fast-growing US catering industry. We see strong opportunities to grow the brand by leveraging our US and worldwide events infrastructure, as well as driving synergies with other UBM events. We are delighted that Kelvin Lee, Mike Roman and their team will be joining UBM Live and look forward to working with them to develop the business going forward.”

UK, London & USA, Minneapolis, MN

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YuMe acquires Appealing Media

June 16, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

YuMe, a video advertising technology company has acquired London based Appealing Media, the premium mobile video advertising company serving customers such as ESPN, IPC Media, Bauer Media, and Universal McCann. Appealing Media will become YuMe’s London UK headquarters and will be used as the base for further expansion across Europe.

“As smartphone and tablet adoption takes off, the mobile video market will grow considerably both in complexity and reach. And the advertising on these platforms needs to be relevant and smart, especially for premium brands,” said Michael Mathieu, CEO of YuMe. “We are excited to open our first office in the UK and welcome the executive team of Appealing Media to YuMe.”

Appealing Media’s founder and CEO, Owen Hanks, and senior management team brings over 30 years of experience in the European advertising space to YuMe. Appealing Media has worked with major brands and premium publishers to execute successful complex campaigns across native apps, touch web and mobile web properties and were honored with the Grand Prix award at MobiTech Europe in 2010 for its innovative “Interactive Video Player” ad format.

“Mobile video is clearly a growth market and by joining YuMe we are increasing our offering for the UK market considerably – both to other publishers but also to other platforms such as online and TV,” said Owen Hanks, founder and CEO of Appealing Media. “We are committed to simplifying these complex cross platform campaigns for brands across Europe.”

USA, Redwood, CA & UK, London

 

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