Revenue and profit fall at Haynes

Haynes Publishing Group P.L.C has announced reduced revenue and profit in its preliminary unaudited results for the full financial year to May 2012.

  • Group revenue down 9% at £29.8 million (2011: £32.7 million)
  • Group operating profit of £5.1 million (2011: £7.7 million)
  • Group profit before tax of £4.7 million (2011: £7.2 million)

The Haynes Group comprises two geographical business segments UK & Europe and North America & Australia.

The UK & European business has headquarters in Somerset, UK and subsidiaries in the Netherlands, Italy, Spain, Romania and Sweden. The core business of the European operations is the publication and supply of automotive repair and technical information to the professional automotive markets as well as to the DIY aftermarkets in both a printed and digital format.

The North American & Australian business has headquarters near Los Angeles, California and publishes DIY repair manuals for cars and motorcycles in both a printed and digital format.

Read the full announcement here

 

UK, Somerset & USA, Los Angeles, CA

CRU Group acquires Ryan’s Notes

CRU Group, the global metals, mining and fertilizer analysis, consultancy and conference business, has acquired Ryan’s Notes. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Ryan’s Notes comprises the Ryan’s Notes news and price assessments newsletter, which is also available online, and three conferences: the Ryan’s Notes Ferroalloys Conference, the Ryan’s Notes Metallics Meeting and the recently launched Ryan’s Notes European Ferroalloys Conference.

Ryan’s Notes was established in 1995 and is headquartered in Pelham, NY. Both of Ryan’s Notes’ founders, Patrick Ryan and Alice Agoos, will continue working on the newsletter and the conferences as part of the expanded CRU Group.

Patrick Ryan said: “After more than 17 years creating, growing and developing Ryan’s Notes, I am delighted that we have found a new home with CRU. Both Alice and I are also pleased that we will continue to work on the newsletter and conferences with CRU into the future.”

CRU Chairman Robert Perlman said: “This acquisition enables CRU to take a pre-eminent position in ferroalloys and metallics worldwide, both in price assessments and in conferences. There is an excellent fit between our two businesses which will allow us to offer even more value to our customers around the world.”

CRU Chief Executive Nick Morgan said: “We have always admired the Ryan’s Notes business and were not surprised when it researched very well in our pre-acquisition work. I am pleased to welcome Patrick, Alice and their team to CRU.”

UK, London & USA, Pelham, NY

Schneider Publishing Company acquires Meetings Quest

Schneider Publishing Company has acquired Meetings Quest, a series of one-day trade shows for meeting and event planners, owned by James T. Dunn Enterprises. Beginning in 2013, Meetings Quest will join Schneider Publishing’s suite of media properties that serve the meeting and event industries: Association NewsSportsTravel and the TEAMS Conference & Expo.

“We’re excited to be adding a live-show component that will be marketed alongside Association News magazine,” said Timothy Schneider, president and CEO of Los Angeles-based Schneider Publishing. “Meetings Quest is a brand with a long and proud history. We look forward to introducing several enhancements to this series of shows that will make it the best way for hotels, venues, convention bureaus and meetings-industry suppliers to reach key association and corporate meeting planners.”

Headquartered in suburban Washington, D.C., Meetings Quest was founded in 1984 by the late Jimmy Dunn. Dunn’s wife, Barbara Cox-Dunn, has owned and operated the shows since Dunn passed away in 2000. She will continue managing the shows for the 2012 show season, after which Schneider Publishing will assume management and marketing for Meetings Quest. Under Schneider Publishing’s ownership, Dunn will continue in her marketing role for Meetings Quest and, effective immediately, will also be responsible for print and online advertising sales in Association News in the Northeastern United States.

USA, Los Angeles, CA & Washington, D.C.

Hill+Knowlton Strategies acquires the assets of Ascentum Inc. in Canada

WPP’s wholly-owned public relations and public affairs firm Hill+Knowlton Strategies Canada is acquiring substantially all the assets of Ascentum Inc. in Canada.

Founded in 2003, Ottawa-based Ascentum is a leading full-service consultancy that works with government, business and not-for-profit clients to facilitate and create dialogue with stakeholders via online, in-person and social media-based strategies and tools and bolsters H+K’s public engagement capabilities in Canada and globally. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

UK, London & Canada, Ottawa

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The Carlyle Group and Getty Images Management to acquire Getty Images from Hellman & Friedman for $3.3Bn

Global alternative asset manager The Carlyle Group and Getty Images management have formed a partnership to acquire Getty Images, Inc., a global creator and distributor of still imagery, video and multimedia products, from Hellman & Friedman for $3.3 billion. Carlyle will acquire a controlling stake in Getty Images, while Getty Images Co-Founder and Chairman Mark Getty and the Getty family will roll substantially all of their ownership interests into the transaction. Getty Images management, including Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer Jonathan Klein, will also invest significant equity in the company.

“Getty Images consistently demonstrates growth, leadership and prominence as one of the world’s leading media companies. This partnership with The Carlyle Group reflects and bolsters our ongoing strategy, strong management team and the talent of our dedicated employees. We are delighted to collaborate with Carlyle, with its formidable pedigree and success, and take the business into its next phase of development and growth,” said Jonathan Klein, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Getty Images.

Mark Getty, Co-Founder and Chairman, added, “In seventeen years, we have built a business that has revolutionized the industry, with innovation at its core. I am confident that the partnership between Getty Images and The Carlyle Group will see the company’s success continue.”

Eliot Merrill, Managing Director of The Carlyle Group, said, “Getty Images is the premier, digital global marketplace for commercial visual content. We look forward to partnering with Mark Getty, Jonathan Klein and the talented Getty Images management team. We will harness Carlyle’s financial resources and global network to help take Getty Images to the next stage of product innovation and global growth.”

Carlyle Partners V, a $13.7 billion U.S. buyout fund, will provide equity financing for the investment. J.P. Morgan, Barclays, Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs and RBC Capital Markets have provided committed debt financing for the transaction. The transaction is subject to customary regulatory approvals and is expected to close in 2012.

USA, Washington, DC & Seattle, WA

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The McGraw-Hill Companies reports record 2nd quarter

The McGraw-Hill Companies has reported revenue of $1,547 million in the second quarter, a decrease of 1% compared to the same period last year, as a result of a 5% increase at McGraw-Hill Financial and a 12% decline at McGraw-Hill Education. Net income from continuing operations increased 2% to $216 million and diluted earnings per share increased 11% to $0.76.

Excluding the impact of one-time costs related to the Growth and Value Plan, adjusted net income from continuing operations increased 15% to $243 million and adjusted diluted earnings per share increased 25% to a second quarter record of $0.85. This increase, similar to the first quarter, was primarily due to strong growth at Commodities & Commercial and S&P Capital IQ / S&P Indices.

“We are pleased by the continuing progress of our Growth and Value Plan in establishing two powerful companies, McGraw-Hill Financial and McGraw-Hill Education, by the end of the year,” said Harold McGraw III, chairman, president, and chief executive officer of The McGraw-Hill Companies. “Our employees are to be applauded for delivering stellar results while simultaneously advancing the separation and implementing major cost reductions. We are delivering record adjusted earnings despite the challenging global macro-economic environment, including both the impact of the European debt crisis on global debt issuance and reduced state budgets on textbook spending.”

“We now expect to be near the high end of our previous 2012 adjusted diluted earnings per share guidance of $3.25 to $3.35,” said Mr. McGraw. “We will revisit our guidance again after we report the third quarter, traditionally the largest of the year.

McGraw-Hill Financial: Businesses that make up what will be the new McGraw-Hill Financial reported revenue of $1,073 million and adjusted operating profit of $394 million, an increase of 5% and 9%, respectively, compared to the same period a year ago. McGraw-Hill Financial will include the following lines of business:

– Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services: Revenue increased 1% to $483 million and operating profit decreased 2% to $208 million in the second quarter compared to 2Q 2011—the strongest quarter of 2011 for this segment. Operating profit margins in the quarter were 43%.

– S&P Capital IQ / S&P Indices:  Revenue increased 10% to $366 million and adjusted operating profit increased 17% to $115 million.

Credit Market Analysis Limited (CMA) was acquired from the CME Group at the end of the second quarter. The business will become part of S&P Capital IQ — broadening its existing pricing and data businesses and bolstering its asset-class coverage of OTC securities.

– Commodities & Commercial:  Revenue increased 9% to $241 million and operating profit grew by 45% to $71 million in the second quarter, compared to the same period last year.

Platts continued its record performance resulting in 19% revenue growth at Commodities to $121 million for the period. Excluding the acquisition of Steel Business Briefing Group, which was not included in second quarter 2011 results, Commodities’ revenue grew 15% to $117 million.

Commercial’s revenue was down 1% as gains by J.D. Power and Associates, which is on track to record its best year ever, were offset by modest declines at McGraw-Hill Construction and Aviation Week.

McGraw-Hill Education:  Revenue for the segment declined 12% to $474 million while operating profit improved by 36% to $57 million in the second quarter, compared to the same period last year. The improvement in operating income was primarily the result of restructuring actions and ongoing tight expense management.

– Higher Education, Professional and International Group (HPI):  Revenue decreased 2% to $241 million in the second quarter compared to the same period last year.

– School Education Group (SEG):  Revenue decreased 20% to $233 million for the quarter.

Read the full announcement here

USA, New York, NY

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Dropbox acquires TapEngage

Dropbox has acquired TapEngage, a company that enables advertisers and publishers to work together to create advertising that takes advantage of the power of tablets. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The acquisition was announced by founders Matt Holden and Sean Lynch on the TapEngage blog.

“We started TapEngage because we’re really excited about the potential for new mobile technologies to change the face of commerce and computing. As we built TapEngage, we were fortunate enough to collaborate with a wide set of partners doing amazing things in the industry, which further fueled our excitement. However, sometimes you find a company that is making such an incredible impact, you can’t help but want to join forces.

Today, we are thrilled to announce that TapEngage has been acquired by Dropbox. We’re still working with the Dropbox team to determine next steps for TapEngage, but we wanted to give our clients and partners the update. We owe a debt of gratitude to our partners, investors, and friends —we couldn’t have done it without your support!”

USA, San Francisco, CA

First half 2012 mergers and acquisitions trend report for Private Equity in the Information Industry

Berkery Noyes has released its first half 2012 mergers and acquisitions trend report for Private Equity in the Information Industry.

The report analyses merger and acquisition activity in the private equity market for the first half of 2012 and compares it with activity in the four previous six-month periods. It features transactions made by financially sponsored acquirers within the Information Industry, including purchases made by subsidiaries or platforms of private equity firms.

Berkery Noyes’ data showed that total volume increased two percent. Vista Equity Partners and Hellman & Friedman each had seven Information Industry transactions in first half 2012, making them the most acquisitive private equity firms by volume. Total value decreased eight percent, from $18.90 billion to $17.33 billion.

M&A activity in the Health and Pharmaceutics segment rose 62 percent and reemerged as the largest vertical market segment tracked in this report. One of the most active related buyers was TPG Capital, which acquired iMDsoft, DecisionView, and PharmARC Analytic Solutions. Lifestyle and Entertainment, previously the largest market segment, leveled off by 21 percent in first half 2012. This came in the aftermath of a 46 percent improvement in second half 2011.

Private equity M&A within the Software portion of the Information Industry remained flat throughout 2011 but increased 15 percent during the last six months. Three of the top ten overall Software deals in first half 2012 were backed by private equity firms. This consisted of Turaz’s announced merger with Misys for $2 billion, Apax Partners and JMI Equity’s announced acquisition of Paradigm for $1 billion, and GTCR’s announced acquisition of CAMP Systems International for $675 million. These deals together accounted for 21 percent of financially sponsored transaction value in the Information Industry.

“Large private equity firms keen on making acquisitions are likely to continue pursuing deal opportunities in the middle and lower middle market,” stated John Shea, Managing Partner at Berkery Noyes. “There are several factors contributing to this. First, they are finding that it currently takes longer in some instances to sell their portfolio companies, which can temporarily limit the amount of capital they have available to invest elsewhere. Second, they are facing heightened competition from strategic buyers, as was demonstrated by the bidding process for Quest Software between Insight Venture Partners and Dell.”

A copy of the FIRST HALF 2012 M&A REPORT FOR PRIVATE EQUITY IN THE INFORMATION INDUSTRY is available at the Berkery Noyes website – here.

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WorldOne acquires Sermo – an online community of U.S. physicians

Healthcare insights and intelligence company WorldOne has acquired Sermo, an online community of U.S. physicians. In the six years since its launch, Sermo amassed a membership of 130,000 physicians and hundreds of clients, including eight of the top ten pharmaceutical companies in the world.

With the acquisition of Sermo and its leading discussion and crowdsourcing platform for physicians, WorldOne considerably expands its interactive and digital engagement capabilities. WorldOne already boasts a global network of 1.7 million healthcare professionals, including over 1 million verified physicians across 80 countries; adding Sermo’s membership will further increase reach, allow for unprecedented client list match rates, expand research opportunities, and serve as a catalyst for increased physician discussion, insights and collaboration.

“Sermo fits in perfectly with our strategy to extend our digital footprint across healthcare market research and enhance our growing portfolio of innovative engagement solutions,” said Peter Kirk, CEO of WorldOne. “Sermo has proven that sustaining an active, engaged community can result in higher interest in and response to market research as well as new promotional opportunities. Combining Sermo’s technology and social media expertise with WorldOne’s global scale enables us to rapidly accelerate our growth while offering the most enriching, collaborative online environment for physicians anywhere in the world.”

USa, New York, NY & Cambridge, MA

Nexstar Broadcasting and Mission Broadcasting to Acquire 12 Television Stations

Nexstar Broadcasting Group and Mission Broadcasting are to acquire twelve television stations and associated digital sub-channels in eight markets from entities controlled by privately-held Newport Television for $285.5 million. Nexstar will acquire ten stations as well as Newport’s Inergize Digital media operations and Mission will acquire two stations in Little Rock, AR.

Nexstar and Mission have also secured commitments for new $645 million Senior Secured Credit Facilities comprised of a $570 million Term Loan B due 2019 and a $75 million Revolving Credit Facility due December 2017.

Newport Television Stations to be acquired by Nexstar Broadcasting Group

    Market   Market Rank   Station   Affiliation
1   Salt Lake City, UT   33   KTVX   ABC
2   Salt Lake City, UT   33   KUCW   CW
3   Memphis, TN   49   WPTY   ABC
4   Memphis, TN   49   WLMT   CW
5   Little Rock, AR*   56   KLRT   FOX
6   Little Rock, AR*   56   KASN   CW
7   Syracuse, NY   84   WSYR   ABC
8   Binghamton, NY   157   WBGH   NBC
9   Binghamton, NY   157   WIVT   ABC
10   Elmira, NY   174   WETM   NBC
11   Jackson, TN   176   WJKT   FOX
12   Watertown, NY   177   WWTI   ABC

* to be acquired by Mission Broadcasting

Perry A. Sook, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Nexstar Broadcasting Group, Inc., commented, “The Newport transaction is a transformational event for Nexstar from a strategic and operational standpoint and will bring very significant free cash flow accretion to the Company immediately upon closing. The acquisition significantly expands our revenue and operating base with stations where we can quickly apply our operating and management disciplines to meaningfully improve their performance which we believe will drive strong cash flow growth.”

In the first year following the closing of the transaction the twelve Newport stations and Inergize are expected to contribute approximately $110 million in incremental net revenue. In 2014, the anticipated second year of the combined operations, Nexstar believes the combined entity will generate approximately $550 million in net revenue. Giving effect to approximately $19 million in projected synergies, the acquisition is expected to generate approximately $55 million in additional EBITDA (definitions and disclosures regarding non-GAAP financial information are included later in this announcement) and is expected to provide free cash flow accretion in the first year of approximately 45% over the levels expected to be generated by Nexstar’s and Mission’s existing operations. The purchase price represents a multiple of approximately 5.5 times the average 2011/2012 broadcast cash flow of the acquired stations after giving effect to the anticipated operating improvements and synergies identified by Nexstar.

Nexstar and Mission plan to finance the acquisition of the Newport stations with new $645 million Senior Secured Credit Facilities comprised of a $570 million Term Loan B due 2019 and a $75 million Revolving Credit Facility due December 2017. In addition to financing the Newport transaction, Nexstar intends to use the proceeds of the new facilities to refinance its existing Credit Facilities, including amounts outstanding on its First Lien Revolving Credit Facility and its First Lien Term Loans, and to redeem all of its aggregate outstanding principal amount 7% Senior Subordinated Notes due January 15, 2014 and all of its aggregate outstanding principal amount 7% Senior Subordinated PIK Notes due January 15, 2014.

The new credit facilities are being led by Bank of America Merrill Lynch, UBS Investment Bank and RBC Capital Markets as joint lead arrangers and joint bookrunners.

Completion of the Newport transaction, expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2012, is subject to Federal Communications Commission approval, the expiration of the applicable Hart-Scott-Rodino waiting period and other customary closing conditions.

USA, Irving, TX