Five years ago, Mark Milner (ex DMGT) was appointed CEO of Wilmington Plc, the UK listed B2B. His first financial presentation to shareholders presented an uncomfortably clear picture of static (at best) revenue and profit from a sprawling portfolio across risk and compliance, healthcare, accountancy and law. He might have wondered about the assertion of his chair Martin Morgan (ex CEO of DMGT) that Wilmington would be sticking with the strategy, in line with a consultant-supported “business review” completed before the CEO’s arrived.
The company, which had undergone almost constant upheaval in its two decades, seemed to be in need of more change than it was telling shareholders.
Wilmington had long since sold most of the print magazines and directories from its formation in 1993 by UK publishing entrepreneur Brian Gilbert (ex Haymarket, United Trade Press, and Maxwell Communications Corp). It had started life by almost continually buying and selling magazines, books, conferences, exhibitions, and databases. It became good at striking deals and cranking out profits. But its formation – from business directories bought from the bankrupt estate of the late Robert Maxwell – gave the early impetus to get into paid-for digital media and, eventually, to sell-off its advertising-funded B2B magazines. But, when Milner was appointed in July 2019, it was still an almost random collection of B2B assets, albeit mostly weaned off advertising.
Five years later, almost everything is different.
Its not been an easy time to be a sub-scale media company on the London Stock Exchange but recent announcements show how Milner has turned the company round in his first five years. The c£60mn sale of the company’s healthcare businesses in the UK and France and of the MiExact ‘mortality data business’ followed last year’s £17mn acquisition of Astutis governance training. The flurry of deals had followed £28mn of divestments during 2021-22.
The result is that the company whose best businesses have long been in intelligence, insights and training on Governance, Risk and Compliance (GRC) has finally become a specialist provider focused on this fast-changing international market.
As Wilmington reports strong revenue recovery and and a debt-free balance sheet, shareholders (which have watched a 16% price gain YTD) are now wondering whether the £120mn-revenue company has the appetite amd ambition for a transformative deal which really could turn Wilmington into a global leader – or part of one.
Will it be the diner or dinner?
Some have been pondering what might have been in 2016 (three years before Milner’s appoinment) when the company had wanted to acquire the Association of Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialists (ACAMS), described as “the largest international membership organisation dedicated to enhancing the knowledge and skills of anti-money laundering and financial crime prevention professionals”. Although US-based, ACAMS is believed to have a strong presence in Europe, Latin America and a growing presence in Asia.
Private equity owner Warburg Pincus had hatched a deal to bring together its US company and Wilmington’s (now) 30,000-member International Compliance Association (ICA) across 155 countries. The combination would have become an education and training leader in the market for information, training and technology on corporate ethics, financial crime prevention and compliance. They were appetised by UN estimates that some 2-5% of global GDP (or $1.6-$4 trillion) was being laundered through corruption, drug trafficking, tax evasion and cyber-crime.
Compliance information companies like Wilmington and ACAMS provide the data, training, networking, and certification to enable financial institutions, insurers, asset managers, lawyers, law enforcement and credit institutions to combat the practice of generating income through illegal activity.
In the event, the 22-year-old ACAMS was acquired by the $2bn-revenue Adtalem Education Group. Wilmington is believed to have offered just two-thirds of the winning $330mn bid (estimated to be 8x revenue).
In 2022, ACAMS was subsequently acquired by US investment firm Wendel Group for an enterprise value of $500mn. Last year, ACAMS had revenue of $102.9mn – 24% up on 2021 when it was said to have EBITDA of $18mn (22% margin). It claimed 60k “certified” members, operated in 200 countries and had 312 employees (mainly in the US, UK and Hong Kong). About 50% of its revenue is from outside the US. In the still fragmented compliance market, Wilmington + ACAMS could – more than ever – be a highly attractive global combination.
Who will move first?
| Wilmington Plc £mn Yr end June SnapShot | 2025* | 2024* | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 |
| Revenue | 129.1 | 131.0 | 122.1 | 111.9 | 113.1 |
| Intelligence | 81.2 | 72.2 | 64.9 | 56.3 | 56.8 |
| Training | 47.9 | 58.8 | 57.2 | 55.6 | 56.2 |
| EBITDA | 29.1 | 29.4 | 26.7 | 24.3 | 21.2 |
| Margin | 23% | 22% | 22% | 22% | 19% |
| Net cash | 76.5 | 63.6 | 42.2 | 20.5 | (17.2) |
| Enterprise value | 237.4 | 249.9 | 275.5 | 291.9 | 298.9 |
