LONDON and NEW YORK, July 5 LAWFUEL – The Legal Newswire Service — Incisive Media, a leading business information provider, and ALM, a leading integrated media company, today announced that they have signed a definitive agreement under which Incisive Media will acquire ALM from U.S. Equity Partners, L.P. for a total value of approximately $630 million (approximately 315 million pounds Sterling) in cash. The acquisition is expected to close in the third quarter of this year, upon satisfaction of regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions.
ALM owns and publishes 33 national and regional magazines and newspapers focused on the legal and real estate communities, including The American Lawyer(R), The New York Law Journal(R), Corporate Counsel(R), The National Law Journal(R) and Real Estate Forum. The company is also one of North America’s largest producers of conferences and trade shows for business leaders and the legal profession. ALM’s Law.com(R) is the Web’s leading legal news and information network, while ALM’s GlobeSt.com is the Web’s leading information source for commercial real estate professionals. ALM generated approximately $200 million in revenues in 2006.
Incisive Media is a rapidly growing provider of specialist business information, operating in four principal markets: financial services, risk management, professional services and marketing services. The company, which is headquartered in London, with further offices in Asia and North America, delivers key information to defined target audiences across a variety of platforms: in print, through magazines; in person, via conferences, exhibitions and training programs; and online, through various websites. Incisive Media generates annual revenues of approximately $280 million.
Tim Weller, Founder and Group Chief Executive of Incisive Media, said, “The acquisition of ALM will advance Incisive Media substantially towards our strategic goal of creating a leading global business-to-business media company. ALM, like Incisive Media, is a provider of high-quality business information and, in terms of both products and geography, is extremely complementary to our existing business. The addition of ALM’s legal and professional services assets to our portfolio will effectively double the size of Incisive Media, deepen our weighting within the desirable legal publishing space, and give our company a balanced presence between Europe and the U.S.
“ALM’s senior management team, led by Bill Pollak, has worked together closely for nearly ten years in building it to its current strong position. We look forward to working closely with the management team as we grow our combined business in the U.S., and support ALM as it extends its business in Europe and Asia,” continued Mr. Weller.
Upon completion of the transaction, William L. Pollak, President and Chief Executive Officer of ALM, will join Incisive Media’s Board.
Mr. Pollak said, “The operational fit between ALM and Incisive Media is ideal. ALM will provide a sizable platform for Incisive Media to grow in the U.S., and becoming part of Incisive Media will enable us to pursue a range of global opportunities that have not been fully available to us to date. We look forward to joining with Tim Weller and the entire Incisive Media team, as well as Apax Partners, as we build our various brands across multiple platforms.”
Irina Hemmers, Partner at Apax Partners, said, “We are very pleased to support Incisive Media in implementing its stated strategy to become a leading global business-to-business and professional information provider. ALM, under the leadership of its experienced management team, has generated steady growth from delivering high quality must-have content to the legal and commercial real estate communities via its long-established, market leading brands. We believe the combined company will be well positioned to achieve substantial growth on a global scale.”
Incisive Media was advised by Greenhill & Co., Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP and PricewaterhouseCoopers. Financing for the transaction has been underwritten by the Royal Bank of Scotland. ALM was advised by Credit Suisse and Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP.
About Incisive Media
Incisive Media is a rapidly growing provider of specialist business information, operating in four principal markets: financial services, risk management, professional services and marketing services. The London-based company delivers key information to defined target audiences across a variety of platforms: in print, through magazines; in person, via conferences, exhibitions and training programs; and online, through various websites. Incisive Media’s market leading brands include Investment Week, Post Magazine, Risk, Search Engine Strategies, Accountancy Age, and Legal Week.
Incisive Media was founded in 1995 by the current management team, headed by Tim Weller, with the launch of Investment Week. The company was floated on the main market of the London Stock Exchange in December 2000. In December 2006, Apax Partners backed the public-to-private management buyout of Incisive Media (valued at approximately $550 million). Since the completion of the management buyout, Incisive Media has acquired three separate businesses. For more information visit: http://www.incisivemedia.com/.
About ALM
Headquartered in New York City, ALM is a leading integrated media company, focused on the legal and real estate communities. ALM owns and publishes 33 national and regional magazines and newspapers focused on the legal and real estate communities, including The American Lawyer(R), The New York Law Journal(R), Corporate Counsel(R), The National Law Journal(R) and Real Estate Forum. The company is also one of North America’s largest producers of conferences and trade shows for business leaders and the legal profession. ALM’s Law.com(R) is the Web’s leading legal news and information network, while ALM’s GlobeSt.com is the Web’s leading information source for commercial real estate professionals. Other ALM businesses include book and newsletter publishing, court verdict and settlement reporting, production of professional educational seminars, market research and content distribution.
ALM was formed by U.S. Equity Partners, L.P., a private equity fund sponsored by Wasserstein & Co., LP. More information on ALM’s businesses and services is available at http://www.alm.com/.
About Apax Partners
Apax Partners (http://www.apax.com/) is one of the world’s leading private equity investment groups. It operates across the United States, Europe and Asia and has more than 30 years of investing experience. Funds under the advice of Apax Partners total in excess of $20 billion around the world. These Funds provide long-term equity financing to build and strengthen world-class companies. Apax Partners Funds invest in companies across its global sectors of Tech & Telecom, Retail & Consumer, Media, Healthcare and Financial & Business Services
Over the past ten years, Apax has been one of the most active investors in media and communications with over $5.8 billion of equity invested. Recent investments include TDC ($17.6 billion), Thomson Learning ($7.8 billion), Intelsat ($5.0 billion), CME ($3.0 billion), Yell Group ($3.0 billion), Trader Media Group ($2.7 billion), VNU World Directories ($2.6 billion) and Hit Entertainment ($1.0 billion).
Contacts:
Todd Fogarty
Kekst and Company
212-521-4854
todd-fogarty@kekst.com
Tim Weller
Chief Executive
Incisive Media
+44 (0)20 7484 9970
Website: http://www.incisivemedia.com/
