Incisive Media, of the UK, has acquired the 21-year-old Financial Services Forum membership community for marketing professionals in finance. The Forum is estimated to have 150 member organisations and a revenue of perhaps £1m with EBITDA margins of up to 20%.
Incisive was founded in 1994 by media entrepreneur Tim Weller (ex VNU, Centaur, and Reuters), with the launch of Investment Week in the UK heyday of classified recruitment advertising. He started the business with little capital, a house in negative equity and three children under five years old. Incisive IPOd in 2000 with a market cap of some £70m.
By 2006, when Weller led an Apax-backed MBO, its value was £275m. The following year it stretched out to acquire American Lawyer from Wasserstein for $630m – just in time for the world banking crisis to blow the company apart. The ALM company was bought back by Wasserstein in 2014 – for some $400m.
Incisive’s portfolio of B2B brands includes Computing, Professional Pensions, CRM, Professional Adviser – and Investment Week. It is now privately-owned (by its directors) with projected 2019 revenue of £25m and 170 staff.
With EBITDA margins of some 18% and a debt-free balance sheet, the company (with Weller as chair and Jonathon Whiteley as CEO) is celebrating its 25th anniversary far removed from a bumpy history of private equity and bank debt. It is now signalling a renewed ambition to grow strongly in its financial services and tech markets. More deals on the way.
