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

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

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

Related articles:

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

A FUSION DEAL: Imbibe Media Limited sold to Reed Exhibitions

December 14, 2016 — Fusion DigiNet

img_3849Imbibe Media Limited, the organisation behind Imbibe Live, the Imbibe media platforms, and the successful annual Sommelier Wine Awards, has been sold to Reed Exhibitions, part of RELX Group. The Fusion team was led by Paul Kelly, Director at Fusion. The terms of the deals were not disclosed.

Following the hugely successful launch of Imbibe magazine in 2007,  Imbibe Live was launched in 2010 and quickly established itself as the UK’s leading B2B exhibition focused on the complete range of on-trade drinks – from spirits, wines, beers and ciders, to cocktails, tea, coffee, waters and other associated products. The 2016 edition was held on 4-5 July and played host to more than 250 exhibiting companies from across the on-trade industry, attracting almost 12,000 industry attendees from across the UK. The event will complement Reed Exhibitions’ German on-trade drinks event, Bar Convent Berlin (BCB).

Richard Mortimore, Chief Executive Officer, Reed Exhibitions UK, said: “Imbibe Live, together with its media platforms, has established itself as the UK’s leading event and voice for the on-trade with an unparalleled reputation for delivering quality and innovation to the £10.6bn on-trade industry. We are delighted to be welcoming the Imbibe team to Reed Exhibitions and looking forward to taking its events and media to even greater heights.”

Simon White, Co-founder of Imbibe Media, commented: “The UK hospitality industry is the most creative and exciting in the world. Through all its events and media, Imbibe is at the centre of this dynamic industry. We are thrilled that Reed Exhibitions shares our passion for the sector and our vision for the future. Joining the world’s leading event company will enable Imbibe to develop faster and thus reach, educate and inspire a greater number of on-trade professionals. It will also give way more oxygen to the wonderful brands and services that help make this constantly evolving sector what it is. These are exciting times for both Imbibe and the on-trade – let’s face it, who gets bored of being asked out to a great restaurant or bar?”

Darren Johnson, B2B Divisional Director, Reed Exhibitions UK will oversee the new events. The next edition of Imbibe Live will take place at Olympia, London, on 3-4 July 2017.

The Fusion Team has completed over 100 UK and cross border for its private, corporate and private equity clients, Fusion Corporate Partners is a sector specialist corporate finance advisory firm specialising in the sale of middle-market companies with transactional values ranging from £5 million to over £100 million.

UK, London

Recent Fusion transactions include:

Exhibitions & Conferences

Media & Business Information

Business Support Services and Energy & Environmental Services

Healthcare

Broadcast

Posted in Conference/Exhibitions/Events, Content Media, Fusion Deal, Internet Media, Publishers, ~Europe. Leave a Comment »

A Fusion Deal: Incisive Media’s Legal Week sold to ALM

January 12, 2016 — Fusion DigiNet
ALM-Publications

ALM publications

Incisive Media‘s Legal Week, a U.K.-based business-to-business publisher, has been sold to ALM. Fusion Corporate Partners acted as corporate advisor for Incisive Media. The Fusion team was led by Paul Slight, Director at Fusion. The terms of the deals were not disclosed.

ALM, which publishes The American Lawyer, Corporate Counsel, The National Law Journal, The New York Law Journal and other legal and business publications including Law.com and The Am Law Daily, said that the deal is its fourth acquisition since the company was purchased by the private equity firm Wasserstein & Co. in July 2014.

“This acquisition is an important next step as we expand our offerings into key international markets,” said Bill Carter, CEO of ALM. “Legal Week has a strong audience base in Europe and Asia, and an impressive collection of industry events.”

Legal Week has shared the same corporate umbrella as ALM before. In 2007, Incisive bought ALM from Wasserstein & Co. for $630 million.

Two years later, Incisive defaulted on its debt amid the global financial crisis, prompting the company’s lenders, private equity firm Apax Partners and The Royal Bank of Scotland, to take control of ALM. At the time, Legal Week remained part of Incisive, and the London-based company has been in ongoing talks with RBS and other lenders about reorganizing its debt. (Legal Week reported last year that Magic Circle firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer had London-based Macfarlanes had lead advisory roles in Incisive’s refinancing.)

In 2014, Apax and RBS sold ALM back to Wasserstein & Co. for a reported $417 million. Later that year ALM acquired Kennedy Consulting Research & Advisory, and ALM then paid another $40 million in early 2015 to buy legal and insurance publisher Summit Professional Networks. Last summer, ALM agreed to acquire China Law & Practice from Euromoney Institutional Investor PLC for an undisclosed sum.

ALM’s president of legal media, Lenny Izzo, said the company is not planning additional acquisitions at this time, though it isn’t ruling out the idea. He said no layoffs were planned as a result of the Legal Week acquisition, adding that the move was “about strengthening our position in key markets, rather than realizing cost reductions.”

Like many media companies, ALM has seen recent reductions in staff. In April, the company filed a notice with the state of New York indicating that 61 staffers would be laid off between July and September.

Over the last four years, the legal news industry has reorganized amid a series of deals.

In 2011, Bloomberg LP bought The Bureau of National Affairs, a private information provider for clients in government, business and academia, for $990 million. The following year, LexisNexis paid $150 million to purchase Portfolio Media, the parent company of Law360. Meanwhile, the legal magazine California Lawyer closed its doors in October.

For its acquisition of Legal Week, ALM was advised by Jones Day, which has a long-standing client relationship with Wasserstein & Co. Jones Day advised the private equity firm when it initially bought ALM in 1997 and when it sold ALM a decade later. Incisive was advised by the London-based firm Macfarlanes.

Aside from publishing legal news and analysis, Legal Week organizes events, including Legal Week Private Client Forum, Trust & Estates Litigation Forum and Strategic Technology Forum, among others.

Legal Week and Incisive were represented by Paul Slight, Director at Fusion Corporate Partners (UK) Limited.

Related articles:

Recent Fusion transactions include:

Media & Business Information

Business Support Services and Energy & Environmental Services

Exhibitions & Conferences

Healthcare

Broadcast

Posted in Content Media, Fusion Deal, Internet Media, Publishers, ~Europe, ~North America. Leave a Comment »

A Fusion Deal: WTG sells HR Directors Business Summit and Pan European HR Summit to Blenheim Chalcot

November 18, 2015 — Fusion DigiNet

Fusion Corporate Partners are pleased to announce the sale of HR Directors Business Summit and Pan European HR Summit by WTG to Blenheim Chalcot and its portfolio company Contentive

HR DirectorsFusion Corporate Partners acted as corporate advisor for WTG. The Fusion team was led by Mark Eisenstadt, director at Fusion. The terms of the deals were not disclosed.

Louis Warner, CEO, Contentive said: “We are delighted to welcome our new colleagues at HR Directors Summits. We are looking forward to continuing to grow and develop these great events, serving the HR Director communities worldwide.”

Contentive.jpgSusanna Kempe, Group CEO, WTG Events said: “The Blenheim Chalcot group have an extraordinary track record of building and developing successful businesses, Contentive being one of these, and I could not think of a better new owner of our HR portfolio. The new owners will continue to invest in the brands and add exciting digital capabilities to deliver a 365 day, 24/7 platform of intelligence and connections. I would like to thank the team for their loyalty and hard work over the years and wish them well in their new home.”

UK, London

Recent Fusion transactions include:

Media & Business Information

Business Support Services and Energy & Environmental Services

Exhibitions & Conferences

Healthcare

Broadcast

Posted in Conference/Exhibitions/Events, Content Media, Fusion Deal, ~Europe. Leave a Comment »

A Fusion Deal: Global Technology Forum sold to Clarion 

July 27, 2015 — Fusion DigiNet

Fusion Corporate Partners are pleased to announce the sale of Global Technology Forum to Clarion.

Fusion Corporate Partners acted as corporate advisor for Incisive Media. The Fusion team was led by Paul Slight, director at Fusion. The terms of the deals were not disclosed.

For over 20 years, Global Technology Forum has provided the international oil refining and petrochemical community with an invaluable forum for networking, ideas sharing and contact building. The flagship European Refining Technology Conference (ERTC) Annual Meeting is recognised as the leading downstream event in Europe.

Global Technology Forum has long standing relationships with all of the oil majors, independent refiners, national oil companies and petrochemical operators.

UK, London

Related articles:

Recent Fusion transactions include:

Media & Business Information

Business Support Services and Energy & Environmental Services

Exhibitions & Conferences

Healthcare

Broadcast

Posted in Conference/Exhibitions/Events, Content Media, Fusion Deal, ~Europe. Leave a Comment »

TRANSACTIONS

September 13, 2011 — Fusion DigiNet

The Fusion Team has completed over 120 UK and cross-border transactions totaling over £1.5 billion in value. Our industry sectors covered include: Media and Business Information, Energy Management & Sustainability, Exhibitions and Conferences and Broadcast. Some examples are listed below.

Recent transactions include:

Media & Business Information

Business Support Services and Energy & Sustainability Services

Exhibitions & Conferences

Healthcare

Broadcast

—

Posted in . Leave a Comment »
Newer posts »