Unicepta sponsor Paragon mandates Baird for potential exit

Patrick Costello and Gustav Hoejmark-Jensen
07 August 2023

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Unicepta’s backer Paragon Partners has appointed R.W. Baird to assess exit options for the German media and marketing intelligence provider, four sources familiar with the situation told Unquote sister publication Mergermarket.

An exact timeline for a potential sale process remains unclear, two of the sources said.

Buyside advisors though are preparing for the possibility that the process could kick off towards the end of 2023, a fifth source familiar said.

Unicepta typically posts between EUR 13m-EUR 16m EBITDA, three of the sources said, with one noting that the company has performed "very well" under Paragon's ownership.

For the financial year ending 30 September 2021, Unicepta reported EUR 8m adjusted EBITDA on the back of EUR 38.64m revenue, up from EUR 6.75m adjusted EBITDA and EUR 36.2m revenue the previous year, according to its most recently available financial filings.

The company forecast revenue and adjusted EBITDA growth of around 10%-15% for the financial year ending 30 September 2022, the same filings state. Unicepta had around 567 employees in 2021.

Unicepta has a score of 53, according to Mergermarket's Likely to Exit (LTE) predictive algorithm*, weighted substantially by how long it has been under these sponsors' ownership.

Paragon acquired a majority stake in Unicepta in 2018 in an auction process from a pair of private investors for an estimated EUR 70.54m, with management retaining a direct stake in the firm, according to Mergermarket data. At the time, the company posted around EUR 32m revenue.

Other bidders for Unicepta in the previous sale process, in which the company was marketed off around EUR 6m EBITDA, included strategic buyers Cision and Kantar Media, as reported by this news service.

Under Paragon's stewardship, Unicepta has completed a handful of addon acquisitions, including the 2022 purchase of GIANCE Technologies, a Berlin-based provider of AI technologies in the management and corporate intelligence sector, alongside content intelligence platform Ubermetrics, likewise based in Berlin, in 2021.

Unicepta is a leading provider of media, marketing and corporate intelligence solutions. The company captures and analyses content from more than 460m sources across social, online, print, TV and broadcast media for corporate decision makers and communications professionals, according to Paragon's website.

Founded in 1996 and headquartered in Cologne, Unicepta uses AI-based technologies to analyse the impact of that data from media outlets and other sources on its customers, according to its website. It has more than 550 clients, with reference customers on its website including adidas, British Airways, Deutsche Bank and Siemens.

Unicepta declined to comment. Baird and Paragon did not respond to requests for comment.

*Based on a number of key industry, holding behaviour, and dealflow criteria, Mergermarket's next-generation platform assigns a Likely to Exit (LTE) score to each exit opportunity, with a higher score corresponding to a higher likelihood for an imminent transaction.