London-based B2B minnow Vitesse Media plc is growing up fast. It has agreed to acquire the New York-based weekly magazine Investment News (153k readers) and associated events and digital services from family-owned Crain Communications (publisher of AdAge and Automotive News). The price is $27.1m (1.6 x revenue), $16m of which will be paid in cash, $5m in shares and $6m in deferred payments over the next three years. The deal is being funded by a share placing on London’s AIM secondary stock-market by Vitesse which will change its name to Bonhill Group Plc. The 21-year-old Investment News has a 42-member team (committed to remaining intact) and serves US financial advisers. Last year, it had revenues of $16.8m (2016: $17.2m) and was loss-making, although the sale announcement quoted “profits” before central overheads. Vitesse operates websites including SmallBusiness, Growth Company Investor, Information Age, GrowthBusiness, and What Investment? It also has events including: The Quoted Company Awards, The Global Women in IT Awards series and the British Small Business Awards. It has had a patchy recent history with successive changes of management and shareholders, and a last-reported revenue of under £3m. So the US deal is a big move in every sense. Perhaps some shareholders would have preferred a transformational deal in the UK to strengthen the core business rather than leaping across the Atlantic and taking on currency risks. They might also rather have splashed out on a brand that is safely profitable and not quite so print-centric. But CEO Simon Stilwell (former boss of the UK boutique investment bank Liberum) is confident: “Since I joined Vitesse last year, we have overhauled the board and management team as well as the strategy and this is the first major step in executing on our growth plan.” Let’s watch.
Vitesse B2B leaps Atlantic for $27m purchase
