Alchemy's Incisive Media sells Legal Week to ALM

Incisive Media previously owned intelligence company ALM, having sold it to Wasserstein & Co in July 2014. The Legal Week transaction, which closed on January 8, will add to US-based ALM's portfolio of legal media titles: the business bought China Law & Practice from Euromoney in August last year, and its other legal titles include Law.com, The American Lawyer, Asian Lawyer, Corporate Counsel and The National Law Journal.

Alchemy took control of former unquote" publisher Incisive via a debt-for-equity swap in January 2015 – a deal that saw the company's debt pile reduced from £110m to £25m. Alchemy has been invested in Incisive since November 2013.

Incisive originally came under private equity ownership in 2006, when it was delisted from the London Stock Exchange in a deal led by Apax Partners. Three years later, senior lenders took over the company following a debt-for-equity swap, with Apax Partners retaining a 2% stake and management retaining a 10% stake.

The company has sold several brands since coming under Alchemy ownership. In April last year, Incisive sold ClickZ, SES and Search Engine Watch to Blenheim Chalcot and its portfolio company Contentive.

In September, the company divested its private equity portfolio, comprising the unquote" and Asian Venture Capital Journal (AVCJ) titles, to BC Partners-backed Mergermarket Group. In November, Clarion Events acquired Incisive Media's Global Technology Forum portfolio.

Incisive has not been solely offloading its non-core assets, though. In June last year, three months before divesting unquote" and AVCJ, the company acquired risk technology analyst Chartis Research.

Company
Established in 1999, Legal Week delivers information on the legal profession in digital form, including news, analysis, opinion pieces and research. It also organises a series of annual events, including Legal Week Private Client Forum, Trust & Estates Litigation Forum, Strategic Technology Forum, a series of Corporate Counsel Forums and the British Legal Awards.

People
Incisive Media – Tim Weller (CEO)
ALM – Bill Carter (CEO)

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• Topics
• Exits
• UK / Ireland
• Media
• Alchemy Partners LLP
• United Kingdom
• Partial sale