Deals

Huntsworth plc, the healthcare and communications group, today announces  it has entered into a conditional agreement to acquire 80% of Navience Healthcare Solutions LLC (“Navience”), an independent payer advisory and marketing agency, for an initial cash consideration of $24m (the “Initial Consideration”). It is intended that the Initial Consideration will be funded by a placing of new ordinary shares in the capital of the Company (the “Placing”), to raise approximately £18m, with any proceeds in excess of the Initial Consideration to be used to pay expenses relating to the acquisition and the Placing.

DC Thomson Media has announced the acquisition of Aceville Publications, a Colchester based magazine publisher. This is the largest acquisition within the Media business for a number of years and will materially change the landscape for DC Thomson Media.

Accrording to The Daily Mail the company that runs the London Vet Show and a number of other events, could be about to change hands for up to £300million amid a frenzied year of buyouts in the events and exhibitions sector. City sources said the private equity owners of CloserStill Media have appointed bankers from DC Advisory Partners to find a buyer for the business. 

Comcast has triumphed over 21st Century Fox and Walt Disney in the auction for Sky with a £30.6bn bid in a deal that will redraw the global media landscape. Comcast’s £17.28 a share bid beat a rival £15.67 a share bid from Fox, which was backed by Disney, and came in the third and final round of an auction when each bidder was asked to make their best offer for the broadcaster. The Comcast offer values Sky at almost £4bn more than the Disney-Fox bid

ITV has entered the bidding for Endemol Shine, the $4bn (£3bn) independent production giant behind programmes such as Big Brother, The Fall, MasterChef and Peaky Blinders

Future Publishing Australia (part of Future plc, the global media group), has acquired technology brands PC PowerPlay, Hyper and PC & Tech Authority from nextmedia. The acquisition of these titles will include the magazine portfolios, digital editions, Upgrade events and Australian PC Awards.

Questex, the Newton, Mass.-based publisher and trade show producer serving the travel-hospitality and technology spaces, among others, has been acquired by private equity firm MidOcean Partners from Shamrock Capital, which had owned the company since 2014. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Emerald Expositions Events, Inc. (NYSE:EEX) (“Emerald”), a leading U.S. business-to-business trade show, event and conference producer, today announced the acquisition of a leading technology event and a group of complementary technology intelligence brands from EH Media for approximately $28 million in cash. The acquired brands have delivered impressive organic growth in recent years, driven by increases in digital revenues, now representing approximately half of total revenues, as well as solid event revenue growth.

ITE Group plc today announces the proposed disposal of ITE Expo LLC (“ITE Expo”), the operating company for 56 of the Group’s Non-Core, regionally-focused, smaller events in Russia, to Shtab-Expo LLC (the “Purchaser) (the “Transaction”). These events comprise a significant proportion of the Group’s Non-Core assets in Russia. This disposal is a major step in delivering a key pillar of the Group’s Transformation and Growth (TAG) programme to focus on must-attend International events by actively managing its portfolio.

Radio Times publisher Immediate Media has bought the BBC Good Food brand including its magazine, digital and live events businesses. Immediate, which publishes other food brands including Delicious magazine, Healthy Food Guide and Olive, said the acquisition makes it the “largest food media publisher in the UK”.

Leading global b2b events specialist FC Business Intelligence (FCBI), has today announced that mid-market private equity investor LDC has backed the management buyout of the company. The value of the transaction is undisclosed.

Owler, the world’s largest community-based competitive insights platform and private company database, has raised capital in a Series B-1 round from Morningstar Founder and Executive Chairman, Joe Mansueto, and existing investors, Norwest Venture Partners and Trinity Ventures.

Anthem Publishing Ltd has today announced it is in advanced negotiations to sell its Music Making titles to BandLab Technologies. The purchase is anticipated to complete in the next two weeks and encompasses MusicTech, MusicTech Focus, The Guitar Magazine, Guitar Classics, www.musictech.net and www.theguitarmagazine.com, as well as other associated websites and social media pages.

DIY survey software company SurveyMonkey has announced that its parent company SVMK has filed for an initial public offering (IPO) of shares of its common stock. Director Sheryl Sandberg, who is also Facebook’s COO, will donate her ten per cent stake in the firm to her charity.

Eventbrite, the online ticketing platform, plans to raise $200m in an initial public offering. Over 700,000 event organisers used Eventbrite to sell tickets to about 3m events, from small yoga sessions to large music festivals, in over 170 countries.

The Bauer Media Group has agreed to acquire Jazz FM – the UK’s leading national commercial radio service for jazz, soul and blues.

A spokeswoman for New York Media has confirmed that the Wasserstein family is considering “investment interest and strategic opportunities” and “evaluating the market” following reports that New York magazine and its digital offshoots are up for sale.

Blackstone (NYSE:BX) today announced that private equity and real estate funds managed by the firm have completed the previously announced acquisition of PSAV, a global leader in event experiences. As part of the completed transaction, affiliates of Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) will be reinvesting alongside Blackstone in the transaction to continue to participate in the ongoing growth of PSAV

Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox posted an offer document for its 14 pounds a share bid to buy Sky late yesterday evening, but did not raise its bid to top rival Comcast’s

Euromoney adds to its price reporting business with the acquisition of Random Lengths for US$18.2m