Inflexion, NVM exit CloserStill Media in SBO

Francesca Veronesi
20 December 2018

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Inflexion Private Equity and NVM Private Equity have sold their stakes in UK-based exhibitions operator CloserStill Media to Providence Equity Partners.

The sale generated a 2.8x money multiple for Inflexion, according to a person familiar with the situation. CloserStill's £340m enterprise value reported by some industry publications is roughly correct, Unquote understands.

Since Inflexion's acquisition in 2015, CloserStill has expanded into Asia, Germany and the US via eight acquisitions. Overall, during Inflexion's investment the number of exhibitions grew by 50% and the proportion of international revenues grew from 20% to 50%.

Inflexion acquired a minority stake in CloserStill through its Partnership Capital fund, which closed in 2014 on £400m. The vehicle typically seeks minority stakes, providing equity tickets in the £15-75m range.

DC Advisory was mandated by CloserStill and Inflexion in June this year to advise on the sale of the business, having already advised on the 2015 deal. The process included both PE and trade players. DC's debt team also organised a staple debt package to underpin offers.

London-based PE house Providence has acquired a majority stake in the business. The GP typically backs companies operating in the media, communications, education and information sectors.

Providence completed the fundraise of its $5.1bn Providence Equity Partners VII vehicle in 2013. Around a year ago, the GP registered Providence Equity Partners VIII with a target of $5bn and a hard-cap of $6bn, so to invest in 15-20 companies. A close for the vehicle is yet to be announced.

Previous funding
NVM first invested £7m in CloserStill Media to fund a buy-and-build strategy in 2008; a year later, it supported the company's acquisition of Pioneer Global Media and Principal Media for a combined value of less than £4m. The GP then injected a further £3m to launch new company Closer2, focused on B2B exhibition management, in 2011.

Subsequently Phoenix invested in the company in 2012, in a deal that valued CloserStill at £25m. NVM retained a 10% stake following the transaction.

Three years later, Inflexion invested in the business alongside existing backers NVM, enabling Phoenix to exit the business. Unquote reported at the time that the deal, which was thought to value the company at £100m, saw Phoenix selling its entire holding and generating returns of more than 3.5x.

Company
Founded in 2008 and based in London, CloserStill operates content-led exhibitions throughout the UK, Europe, the US and east Asia. The company's exhibitions include London Vet Show, the Pharmacy Show, Learning Technologies, Cloud Expo Europe, Data Centre World, Cloud Expo and Data Centre Asia in Singapore.

The business generates a turnover of £57m and employs 220 staff across its offices in London, Paris, New York, Berlin, Singapore and Hong Kong. According to a statement published by the firm this summer, the company was expecting to post EBITDA of £20m in 2018.

People
CloserStill Media – Phil Soar (chairman).
Inflexion Private Equity – Simon Turner (managing partner).
Providence – Andrew Tisdale (managing director).

Advisers
Vendor - DC Advisory (M&A, debt advisory).