UK-based, private equity-backed Arc Media Holdings, which last month bought financial publisher Incisive Media for c£43m, has acquired the privately-owned, Netherlands-based Bridge2Food. The 20-year-old membership platform brings together a claimed 10k professionals in plant-based food.
Bridge2Food, which is believed to have revenue of €5-10m, operates summits in Netherlands, America and Singapore. It neatly complements Arc’s £20.5m acquisition in 2021 of AgriBriefing’s UK assets including Farmers Guardian, LAMMA and Farm Business Innovation.
Arc has now spent more more than £65m on four acquisitions in the last 18 months. Perhaps it is interested in acquiring AgriBriefing itself which (after the 2021 divestment to Arc) is a c£20m, subscriber-funded data business, based primarily in France and the US? Or will Arc, instead, use the financial services expertise acquired with Incisive Media to develop its own data and price reporting businesses in agribusiness?
Meanwhile, the UK’s newest B2B growth engine might just consider changing its name. A quick Google search throws up a list of different “Arc Media” companies, which might explain why CEO Simon Foster sometimes calls the company the “Arc Network”. Time for some smart new branding before the next deal…
