Electra Partners offers to acquire UBM's Data Services businesses

POSTED 02 February 2013

Electra Partners today announces that it has made a binding offer to purchase a portfolio of UBM's Data Services businesses for £160 million (subject to consultation with the relevant works council in France and certain regulatory and other approvals). The businesses provide data and information products which professionals use to support their decision-making and day-to-day business activities. Operating in 28 countries worldwide, the businesses serve a wide range of sectors including healthcare, technology & IP, global trade, aviation and forest products. 

Electra Private Equity PLC and the Electra Partners Club 2007 LP will invest approximately £114 million and £13 million respectively at completion.

Commenting on this offer, Alex Fortescue, Chief Investment Partner at Electra Partners, said:

"UBM's Data Services businesses are a robust and diverse portfolio of businesses offering mission critical data products to users across five continents and five vertical segments. We are excited by the opportunities to develop these businesses and deliver value growth.

"The last few Electra deals have been bank related assets - this deal demonstrates the other area of Electra's investment strategy - investing in management buyouts with a sweetspot of £75 million to £300 million enterprise value." 

Henry Elkington, Chief Executive Officer at UBM Data Services, said:

"We are delighted to be working with Electra Partners to realise the full potential of our businesses. 

"We have a portfolio of strong brands, delivering our core proposition of must-have business information and decision-support services. We operate globally and hold market leadership in most of the niches we serve. Digital subscriptions are our largest revenue type and a growing proportion of the total. We look forward to working with Electra Partners to strengthen our business." 

The Electra Partners deal team for this transaction included Alex Fortescue, Alex Cooper-Evans, Sarah Williams and Tom Stenhouse. 

This offer follows a busy 2012 for Electra Partners in which it completed three major acquisitions and successfully realised seven investments in the year to 30 September 2012. 

Electra Partners refers to Electra Partners LLP acting on behalf of its clients Electra Private Equity PLC and Electra Partners Club 2007 LP.


Ends

For further information please contact:

For Alex Fortescue:
Nick Woods, M:Communications +44 (0)20 7920 2348
Andrew Kenny or Nicholas Board, Electra Partners +44 (0)20 7306 3932


Note to Editors:

About Electra Partners LLP
Electra Partners is an independent private equity fund manager with over 25 years' experience in the mid-market buyout sector. As at 30 September 2012, the firm had funds under management of over £1.3 billion. The firm's flexible investment approach allows it to invest across a broad range of sectors and financial instruments including equity, senior equity, convertibles and mezzanine debt. Concentrating principally on Western Europe, and with the majority of investments expected to be made in the United Kingdom, Electra Partners typically seeks to invest in the region of £40 to £100 million of equity, in deals of up to £300 million enterprise value.

The firm's major client is Electra Private Equity PLC, a private equity investment trust which has been listed on the London Stock Exchange since 1976. The firm also manages the Electra Partners Club 2007 LP, a fund raised in 2008 for the sole purpose of investing alongside Electra in controlled investment situations.

For further information please visit www.electrapartners.com.

Electra Partners LLP is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority.

About UBM plc
UBM plc is a leading global business media company. We inform markets and bring the world's buyers and sellers together at events, online, in print and provide them with the information they need to do business successfully. Our 6,500 staff in more than 30 countries are organised into specialist teams which serve commercial and professional communities, helping them to do business and their markets to work effectively and efficiently.

For more information, go to www.ubm.com; follow us on Twitter at @UBM_plc to get the latest UBM news.