Epiris acquires UK division of Time Inc

Financial details of the transaction remain undisclosed, though industry sources told Unquote the deal values the business at around £120m.

The development comes less than a month after Meredith completed the acquisition of Time, which had already been in talks to sell its UK division, comprising magazines and digital titles including TV Times and Woman's Weekly.

The investment is the second deal completed by Epiris since it ceased to be the investment portfolio manager of Electra Private Equity in 2017. The GP launched Epiris Fund II in March 2017, according to Unquote Data, with a £1bn target, of which it had reportedly reached around half by May 2017.

The acquisition of Time Inc UK comes less than a month after Epiris Fund II made the £68m EV acquisition of UK-based substrate manufacturer Portals De La Rue from listed parent De La Rue.

Under its new ownership model, Time Inc UK will pursue potential M&A opportunities and look to implement operational improvements.

As part of the deal, New Scientist's chairperson and former non-executive director of Immediate Media, Bernard Gray, has been appointed executive chairperson at Time Inc UK.

Debt
Ares Management and HSBC provided a debt package to support the deal.

Company
Headquartered in London, the UK division of Time Inc is responsible for titles including TV Times, Woman's Weekly, Country Life, Ideal Home, Trusted Reviews, Decanter, Wallpaper, Cycling Weekly and Horse & Hound.

People
Epiris – Alex Fortescue (managing partner); Chris Hanna (partner); Ian Wood (investment partner); Nicola Gray (investment director).
Time Inc UK – Marcus Rich (CEO).

Advisers
Equity – Jefferies International (corporate finance); PwC (financial due diligence); Macfarlanes (legal).

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