Apax-backed Ascential in £800m London IPO

The company raised £183.2m in the flotation, which will be used to pay down debt. Apax and GMG realised around £80m from selling a combined 25% stake in the company. Before the listing, Apax Partners held around two-thirds of Ascential's stock while GMG owned 32.9%.

Ascential's listing offer comprises 139,950,000 shares, representing 35% of the issued share capital of the company formerly known as Emap. At 200p per share, the IPO priced in the middle of its predicted 190p-210p range.

BofA Merril Lynch and Goldman Sachs acted as joint global coordinators, joint bookrunners and joint sponsors, while BNP Paribas, Deutsche Bank and Numis acted as joint bookrunners.

Previous funding
Apax first invested in the business alongside GMG in January 2008 when it was known as Emap, in a deal thought to be worth £1bn.

Company
Ascential is an exhibition and information services business. The company operates through four divisions; Cannes, i2i, WGSN and Plexus.

Cannes operates the Cannes Lion festival - The International Festival of Creativity, which has been running since 1954. Other events focus on healthcare, innovation and entertainment.

i2i Events Group is a B2B events and trade exhibitions company, running events for the broadcast, education, training, environment, healthcare, industrial, manufacturing, financial services, retail and fashion industries.

WGSN provides information and hosts events focused on the fashion and interior design industries.

Plexus provides business information on the healthcare and retail markets, as well as running events.

Ascential operates from 14 offices globally and is present in 150 countries. The company was previously known as Top Right Group but rebranded to Ascential in December 2015. Emap was rebranded to Top Right Group in 2012.

People
Ascential – Duncan Painter (CEO).

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