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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Access Intelligence acquires P3C Media

Access IntelligenceMedia and information company Access Intelligence has acquired P3C Media, owner of The Public-Private Partnership (P3) Conference and Expo, the leading education and networking event for P3 leaders from government and industry to discuss infrastructure challenges and innovations in project delivery, procurement, life cycle asset management and solutions. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Founded in 2012 by P3C Media President Eric Iravani, the company’s premier events attract senior representatives from government, higher education institutions, and leading firms in the global construction and financial markets. Today, P3C Media has several vertical events that surround their flagship Public-Private Partnership Conference, including: The P3 Water Summit, The P3 Airport Summit, The P3 Higher Education Summit and The P3 Federal Conference.

Don Pazour, CEO of Access Intelligence, said, “P3C Media has been at the forefront of the burgeoning private-public partnership space for many years and has firmly established itself as the market leader for bringing together top government, industry and financial leaders across several verticals in the P3 marketplace. We are delighted to add the P3C Media brand to our company’s portfolio, to welcome an extremely talented team into our family, and to fast-track our leadership position in the P3 marketplace.”

Upcoming P3C Media events include The P3 Federal Conference Nov. 27-28 in Washington, DC and The Public-Private Conference & Expo, March 4-6 in Dallas, TX. The Public-Private Partnership Conference & Expo is one of the largest gatherings of government and construction professionals in the United States.

USA, Rockville, MD & New York, NY

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Incisive Media acquires Open Door Media

Incisive MediaInvestment Week’s parent Incisive Media has acquired Open Door Media Publishing Limited, publisher of Investment Europe and producer of market-leading conferences for fund selectors across Europe.

ODMP is an award-winning financial services media company that brings fund selectors and asset management companies together through its publications, digital products, and extensive portfolio of over twenty conferences across Europe. The company also publishes International Investment for the global adviser community and produces the International Fund and Product Awards, now in their nineteenth year.

Founded in 2013 by Nick Rapley (chairman) and Louise Hanna (director) through a management buyout of the Investment Europe brand from Incisive Media, ODMP has grown rapidly in five years to become a pre-eminent provider of business information and networking to the European asset management industry.

Jonathon Whiteley, CEO of Incisive Media, said, “We have known and worked with Nick, Louise and their team for many years and are excited that we are able to bring Investment Europe and International Investment back into the Incisive Media fold. This acquisition strengthens our asset management publishing and event properties and adds real depth and quality to our growing portfolio for the benefit of our readers, delegates and asset management clients.

UK, London

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Euromoney Institutional Investor acquires a majority stake in the Centre for Investor Education in Australia

Euromoney logoEuromoney Institutional Investor PLC, the international online information and events group has acquired  a 75% stake in the Centre for Investor Education (CIE).

Based in Melbourne, Australia, CIE was founded in 1997 and is a provider of investment forums for senior CIEexecutives of superannuation funds and global asset management firms.  Principal events include the Chief Investment Officers Symposium and the Major Market Players Symposium, both held annually in Australia, as well as the International Investing Symposium which was held in Tokyo earlier this month.  CIE was acquired in 2010 from its founder, Melda Donnelly, by Erling Sorensen and Jamie Nemtsas who have expanded its portfolio of events and will remain shareholders in CIE until December 2015.

The acquisition is expected to be earnings enhancing for Euromoney in financial year 2013. Euromoney has paid an initial A$14.4 million (£9.9 million) cash consideration for a 75% interest in CIE, to be adjusted up or down dependent on CIE’s results for the year to December 2013.  Euromoney will acquire the remaining 25% of CIE’s equity in two instalments based on CIE’s profits for the years to December 2014 and 2015.  The acquisition will be funded from Euromoney’s existing committed borrowing facility.  CIE recorded an unaudited pre-tax profit of A$1.5million (£1.0 million) on revenues of A$4.3 million (£2.9 million) for the year to December 2012.

“We are delighted to acquire CIE,” said Richard Ensor, Chairman of Euromoney.  “Euromoney expects to benefit from the rapid growth of Australia’s asset management industry.  This acquisition of the high-quality CIE business gives us the opportunity to consolidate further our position in this premium segment of the events market.  We look forward to working with Erling Sorensen and Jamie Nemtsas to develop CIE further.”

UK, London & Australia, Melbourne

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