Thomson Reuters has bought the high-end conference organiser FC Business Intelligence (FCBI) from its private equity owner LDC for a surprisingly high price, believed to be £150m. The company is being rebranded as Reuters Events.
The 29-year-old FCBI produces conferences in the energy, pharma, travel and tech sectors. Its events include: eyeforpharma Barcelona, Petrochemical Update Downstream, EFT 3PL & Supply Chain Summit, and Insurance Nexus Connected Claims.
Terms were not disclosed but it is known that LDC had invested less than £25m when it backed an MBO in August 2018.
At the time, the global company was said to have 130 employees at its UK headquarters, with 65% of its £30m revenue generated in the US, 20% in Continental Europe and 10% in the UK. It is believed that the estimated price of £150m equates to 21 x £7m EBITDA or 5 x revenue.
Thomson Reuters is a provider of business information services with products including software and tools for legal, tax, accounting and compliance professionals, and the Reuters global news service.
