London-based private equity firm Lyceum Capital is rumoured to have hired advisers Raymond James to find a buyer for its AgriBriefing. The increasingly international B2B specialist was formed in the UK with the 2012 acquisition of Farmers Guardian from UBM. AgriBriefing (formerly known as Briefing Media) was founded by Neil Thackray, Rory Brown and Rupert Levy, initially to publish in the media, farming and medical sectors. But their decision to focus exclusively on agribusiness has been justified by the rapid development of data services and LAMMA, the UK’s largest farming machinery and equipment exhibition.
Farmers Guardian, however, remains at the core of a company which may now have revenues of some £25m and profits of at least £10m. It has long been the UK’s second agricultural news brand (behind RBI’s Farmers Weekly). But there’s no mistaking which has been the most adventurous for the past six years.
Farmers Guardian’s fairly steady 31k weekly circulation is now 60% “members” who pay up to £199 (almost double the 2012 subscription price) for a neat package of offers including early access to classified ads, data services and insurance discounts. The swing to global prices and analytics has been reflected in the smart acquisition of: AgriMoney, Global Data Systems, of France, and the 160-year-old, US-based Urner Barry.
It’s the strategic move up the value chain (and away from advertising) that CEO Neil Thackray, one of the UK’s most experienced B2B media executives, once espoused in his company’s former media conferences. AgriBriefing now claims its revenue is 70% recurring (subscriptions) and 50% outside the UK.
Its news, prices, insights and events are claimed to reach over 500,000 professionals in 20 countries. So, AgriBriefing really could fetch £150m – 15 x its value in 2012 and 6 x its value in 2015.
If B2B media was the stuff of movies, Hollywood would be lining up to tell the story of an old-fashioned trade magazine publisher which turned itself into a high-value information provider in six short years.
