Epiris announces the sale of RISI for $125 million

POSTED 03 March 2017

Epiris is pleased to announce that its portfolio company AXIO Group (“AXIO”) has agreed to sell RISI, the leading information provider for the global forest products industry, to Euromoney Institutional Investor PLC (“Euromoney”) for $125 million. The sale, which remains subject to regulatory approvals, would be the sixth major realisation from AXIO’s portfolio and is expected to complete in the second quarter of 2017.

Based on today’s exchange rates, Electra Private Equity PLC (“Electra”) would receive proceeds from AXIO of £66 million, an uplift of £21 million or 46% and equivalent to an increase in its NAV of 45 pence per share on the valuation of Electra’s investment at 30 September 2016. The sale would increase the total cash proceeds received by Electra from its investment in AXIO to almost £420 million, or 4.6x original cost, and the total return, including Electra’s investment in the remainder of the AXIO Group, including TechInsights, to more than 5x original cost.

RISI is the most authoritative global source of forest products information. The company offers the most comprehensive and current intelligence and data on supply and demand, pricing and costs across pulp and paper, wood products, timber, tissue and nonwovens markets. In particular its price indices are critical to the daily business operations and trading activities of major paper and board, packaging and other forest product companies. Based in Bedford, Massachusetts, it employs 150 people across the United States, China, Belgium, Finland and Brazil.

Alex Cooper-Evans, Partner at Epiris, said:

“In AXIO we bought a complex group of assets which we have transformed into high-performance growth businesses. RISI is another example of this approach in action. As a result of the focus on management, strategy and execution, RISI not only has grown profits at 15% a year since we invested, but also now is better-positioned, better-invested and has stronger growth prospects than ever before.

“This is the sixth major exit from the AXIO portfolio and would increase the realised return to 4.6x investment cost and the total return to over 5x investment cost.”

Henry Elkington, CEO of AXIO Group, said:

“Over the last 4 years we have invested heavily in RISI: bringing in new management; implementing cloud-based systems for sales, marketing, contract management, DRM and finance; expanding the salesforce; launching new segment-specific products; and acquiring an adjacent business (FOEX). As a result we have greatly strengthened RISI’s market position, accelerated its top-line growth and expanded operating margins.  RISI is primed for continued growth. Euromoney is committed to growing its Price Reporting Agency businesses and we are delighted that RISI has found such a suitable home.”

Alex Fortescue, Alex Cooper-Evans and Sarah Williams are responsible for the investment in AXIO Group.

Epiris refers to Epiris Managers LLP acting on behalf of its clients, including Electra Private Equity PLC.

Ends

For further information please contact:
Andrew Honnor, Matthew Goodman, Matthieu Roussellier, Greenbrook Communications
+44 (0)20 7952 2000

Nicholas Board and Andrew Kenny, Epiris
+44 (0)20 7306 3902

Note to Editors:

About Epiris
Epiris is a top-decile private equity fund manager*.

Epiris, together with its predecessor firms, has managed the business and affairs of Electra Private Equity PLC, a listed private equity investment trust, for four decades. Epiris has also managed private equity investment programmes for pension funds, financial institutions and family offices. During this time Epiris has invested in excess of £5 billion in over 200 deals. Since 2011, Epiris has invested £1 billion in buyouts and co-investments and loan-to-own debt investments, in respect of which it has delivered a gross IRR of 38%***.

As at 30 September 2016, the firm had funds under management of £2.4 billion.

For further information please visit www.epiris.co.uk.

Issued by Epiris Managers LLP which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.

* Refers to the 2009 and 2012 investment pools comprising Buyout & Co-investment, Secondary and Debt investments managed on behalf of Electra Private Equity PLC; comparator data supplied by Preqin.

** As at 30 September 2016 adjusted for subsequent investments and realisations. Gross IRR does not reflect adjustments for investment management and administration costs. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

About AXIO Group
AXIO Group acquired a portfolio of seven market-leading information businesses providing critical, and often industry-standard, information and tools in 2013. Its approach has been to put in place the right long-term strategy for each of the businesses and then to deliver with operational improvement, growth investment and M&A. This transformative approach has resulted in its businesses becoming highly attractive to strategic and financial buyers and AXIO has now exited six of the seven businesses it acquired:

• JOC Group (provider of business intelligence, data and events for container shipping and logistics professionals): sold to IHS, Inc. in 2014;

• Breakbulk: (specialist logistic intelligence business): sold to ITE Group plc in 2014;

• MIMS (Asian healthcare information provider): sold to SMS and Mitsui in 2015;

• Vidal (European healthcare informatics and information systems business): sold to M3, Inc, in 2016;

• OAG (provider of flight schedules and status information and related analytical tools): sold to funds managed by Vitruvian Partners in 2017.

The group’s remaining business is TechInsights, a leading intellectual property services and technical intelligence provider.

For further information, please visit www.axiogroup.net