Exponent acquires Dennis Publishing

The transaction is the maiden investment by the GP's fourth fund, which was launched in 2017 with a £1.5bn target.

Financial details of the transaction remain undisclosed, though Exponent invests in companies with enterprise values of £100-400m. Sky News recently reported the company was expected to be valued at £150-200m in the deal.

Dennis generated £15.7m in earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, amortisation, exceptional items and royalties in 2016, according to publicly available documents. However, according to a statement, Dennis has increased its turnover from £94.4m to £165m during that period, in part fueled by the acquisition of MoneyWeek in July 2017.

According to recent reports by Unquote sister publication Mergermarket, which cited sources familiar with the situation, the bidding was conducted based on an EBITDA figure of £22-24m and was expected to value Dennis at a 6-7x multiple.

The publication also reported that Equistone, HIG Capital and Silverfleet Capital were also involved in the bidding process for the company, alongside German media companies Bauer Media Group and Hubert Burda Media.

Under its new owners, Dennis will look to undertake organic expansion across its online and e-commerce platforms.

Company
Founded in 1974, London-headquartered Dennis is a media company that publishes titles focusing on current affairs, technology, the automotive industry and special interests. Its brands include MoneyWeek, The Week Junior, BuyACar.co.uk, Auto Express, CarBuyer and Computer Active. The company has an additional office in New York.

People
Exponent Private Equity – David McGovern (director).
Dennis Publishing – James Tye (CEO).

Advisers
Vendor – Livingstone Partners (corporate finance).

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• Exponent Private Equity
• Livingstone