Newly re-branded Savanta acquires Wealth-X Custom

Savanta have announced the acquisition of the Custom Research division of Wealth-X (formerly Ledbury Research).  Following the move, Savanta will be home to a 12-strong Wealth & Luxury Practice led by Torie Bold who will be supported by Winston Chesterfield and a team of 10 Consultants. 

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Mercator acquires Marine & Coastal Civil Engineering Expo to co-locate with Seawork

Mercator Media Limited (Mercator) has agreed to purchase the Marine & Coastal Civil Engineering Expo (M&CCE Expo), from the Prysm Group. M&CCE Expo, Europe’s leading event showcasing the latest equipment and techniques in marine civil engineering and construction, is to co-locate with Seawork, Europe’s leading event showcasing the latest equipment and techniques in marine civil engineering and construction

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Amazon Ad Outlook Upgraded By Billions

Citing a “noticeable uptick in enthusiasm for Amazon’s ad business,” Wall Street securities firm BMO Capital Markets upgraded its outlook for Amazon’s ad revenues for the fourth quarter of 2018, as well as full years 2019 and 2020.

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Vivendi Completes the Acquisition of Editis

Vivendi (Paris:VIV) today announced the closing of the acquisition of 100% of the share capital of Editis, the second-largest French-language publishing group. The share purchase agreement with the vendor, Spanish group Planeta, was entered into on November 15, 2018, based on an enterprise value of €900 million. The French Competition Authority authorized the transaction unconditionally on January 2, 2019.

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Informa Divests Life Sciences Media Brands Portfolio

Informa, the International Exhibitions, Events, Business Intelligence and Academic Publishing Group, today announces the divestiture of the Life Sciences Media Brands Portfolio that was previously part of UBM plc, to MJH Associates, a leading US-based, independent full-service healthcare education, market research and multi-channel medical communications company, for a consideration of just over $100m.

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RELX group in £200million battle to buy Mack Brooks

According to the Daily Mail: City sources said Mack Brooks, which stages exhibitions and conferences for the transport, chemicals and packaging industries, has been working with PricewaterhouseCoopers advisers on a potential sale in recent weeks. Bankers say publishing giant, the RELX group, has been toughing it out with private equity firm Inflexion in the final stages of a sale process.

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Magazine media M&As – what happened in 2018 in review

FIPP’s annual review of magazine M&A last year. In this industry, change is constant. Though, over the last number of years, we’ve seen increasing numbers of mergers and acquisitions on the media landscape. 2018 was no different, with magazine media marketplaces restructuring, consolidating and diversifying. “You’ve got that kind of thing going on where everyone’s for sale,” Tony Haile, Scroll CEO, told Joe Pompeo at Vanity Fair.

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Hachette acquires SPCK’s Sheldon Press

Hachette UK has acquired the Sheldon Press, a specialist medical, mental health and self-help imprint of the Christian knowledge publisher SPCK. It will become part of John Murray Learning. The deal was completed following the signing of an agreement between SPCK’s board and Hachette UK on Wednesday (2nd January). The sum paid for the list was undisclosed.

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Providence Equity Partners invests in CloserStill Media valuing the company at c £340m

Funds advised by Providence Equity Partners (“Providence”) have signed an agreement to invest in CloserStill Media (“CloserStill”), one of the world’s leading independent organisers of trade shows and events. Providence agreed to acquire a majority stake from Inflexion Private Equity (“Inflexion”), NVM Private Equity (“NVM”) and management. Phil Soar and Phil Nelson, co-founders of CloserStill, as well as the broader management team, will remain major shareholders alongside Providence. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

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Mark Allen completes deal with Rhinegold

After several months’ negotiations, the Mark Allen Group (MAG) Has confirmed the acquisition of various Rhinegold assets.

These assets include: Choir & Organ, International Piano, Classical Music, Teaching Drama and Music Teacher, as well as the annual British Music Yearbook, the annual British Music Education Yearbook and the Music & Drama Expos in London and Manchester.

In a separate deal, MAG has also acquired from DC Thomson the goodwill of Opera Now, which previously was under licence to Rhinegold.

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CarGurus signs agreement for acquisition of PistonHeads from Haymarket

CarGurus, a leading global automotive marketplace, and Haymarket Media Group, a specialist international media company, today announced they have signed an agreement for CarGurus to acquire used car motoring website PistonHeads. The acquisition is another step in CarGurus’ plans to accelerate growth and expand its consumer audience in the UK, where it launched in 2015.

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Diversified Communications has acquired Digital Construction Week

Diversified Communications UK is delighted to announce the acquisition of Digital Construction Week – the UK’s leading trade show dedicated to digital construction, engineering, design, manufacturing, and operation. Digital Construction Week (DCW), which has grown rapidly since its launch event in 2015, has become known for its comprehensive, high-quality seminar and conference programme and for the seniority of delegates who annually attend. The latest edition, held at ExCeL London on 17-18 October, was its most successful to date, with over 6,500 visitors, 200 exhibitors, around 250 speakers presenting across six stages, and dedicated thought leadership conference stream. The event complements Diversified’s industry leading, international event portfolio, which already includes: GEO Business in London; Commercial UAV Expo Europe in Amsterdam; DesignBUILD in Sydney; AEC Next Technology Expo & Conference and SPAR 3D in Anaheim, California; International LiDAR Mapping Forum in Denver, Colorado; and Commercial UAV Expo Americas in Las Vegas, Nevada.

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