Gresham House reaps 2.3x on exit of MBI to trade

The exit provides Gresham House's Mobeus VCTs with a cash-on-cash return of 2.3x, according to a press release.

Bob Henry, portfolio director at Gresham, told Unquote: "The company was approached by GlobalData, which saw MBI as a good fit within its wider business, which was prepared to pay a fair price for the business, and very importantly for Gresham House, would provide a good home for the MBI business and staff going forward," said .

Mobeus VCTs first invested, alongside Tenzing PE, a combined debt and equity package of GBP 11.7mn for a combined equity holding of 67.5% in January 2015 in an MBO from Ascential, according to Unquote Data. The investing funds throughout have been Mobeus Income & Growth VCT, Mobeus Income & Growth 2 VCT, Mobeus Income & Growth 4 VCT, the Income & Growth VCT.

The management will remain in the business under the new ownership.

Management had substantially accomplished the strategic plan of transitioning from a traditional publisher to a digitally-led data, insights and intelligence company with a market-leading portfolio of brands and after seven years at the helm they were keen to realise value, according to Henry.

The addition of media sector intelligence and related services to GlobalData's suite of offerings will provide both current and prospective clients access to a more comprehensive range of industry expertise, according to GlobalData's CEO Mike Danson.

Company
MBI owns a range of digitally-led specialist news and information brands focussed on the media and marketing sectors including Broadcast, Screen International, and Account List File (ALF), along with data and intelligence brands including Broadcast Intelligence, The Knowledge, Production Intelligence, and KFTV. MBI also runs some of the UK media industry's leading events and awards, including The Media Production and Technology Show along with the Broadcast Awards, Broadcast Sport Awards and Screen Awards. It recently acquired the Rapid TV News brand. It has offices in London and LA and employs 85 staff.

People
Gresham House − Bob Henry (portfolio director).
MBI − Conor Dignam (CEO); Alison Pitchford (managing director).
GlobalData – Mike Danson (CEO).

Advisers
Vendor and MBI − Michelmores (legal).
GlobalData − Reed Smith (legal).

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• Topics
• Exits
• UK / Ireland
• Media
• United Kingdom
• Gresham Private Equity
• Mobeus Equity Partners