The Impact of Private Equity on Information Markets
The publishing and information business market has seen unprecedented levels of investment and increasingly high valuations, led by private equity firms. This report examines what makes publishing businesses so attractive, what criteria private equity investors use to evaluate potential investments, and how publishing marketplaces may change as more businesses come under private equity ownership. The report offers:
- Analysis of the challenges currently facing private equity;
- Characteristics and criteria that private investors look for in evaluating potential investments;
- 10 key private equity firms in the media and information marketplace, and examples of recent transactions;
- Case studies of two recent deals and Outsell’s opinion on possible exit strategies;
- Essential actions for leadership teams in publishers looking to make their business attractive to private equity;
- Specific considerations for leadership broken out by major functional areas: Sales, Marketing, Technology/Content Development, Finance, and HR.
Pub Date: August 9, 2007
Pages: 18
Format: PDF 
Table of Contents
- Executive Summary
- Why This Topic?
- Today’s Economic Climate Favours Investors
- Might the Bubble Burst?
- The Challenges Facing Private Equity
- Private Equity and the Information and Publishing Markets
- Making and Exiting Investments
- Impact of the Large Number of Private Equity Owners on These Markets
- Case Studies
- Apax and Incisive Media: £275 Million Management Buy-out
- Bridgepoint and Wolters Kluwer Education: €774 Million Acquisition
- Five-Year Impact of Private Equity on Publishing and Information Markets
- Private Equity Controls an Increasing Proportion of the Market
- Increasing Competition in Publishing Markets
- Increasing Market Consolidation
- Essential Actions
- Implications for Leadership
- Table 1. Private Equity: Key Players in the Media and Information Marketplace, and Examples of Recent Transactions
Tables & Figures
Companies Mentioned