LONDON: Centaur Media Plc, an international provider of business information and specialist consultancy, has entered into a conditional agreement to sell Centaur Media Travel and Meetings Limited (CTM), the owner of the Business Travel Show and The Meetings Show, to Northstar Travel Media UK Limited, a leading B2B information and marketing solutions company focused on the global travel and meetings industries. Completion of the disposal is expected to take place on 30 April 2019.
The disposal follows Centaur’s decision last October to explore the divestment of its smaller businesses in order to simplify the Group’s structure and to focus management resources on its leading brands. Centaur announced on 1 April 2019 that it has raised £5 million from the sale of its financial services business, which includes brands such as Money Marketing and Mortgage Strategy.
Northstar will pay a cash consideration of £9.25 million (subject to customary post-completion adjustments) for Centaur Media Travel and Meetings Limited (CTM), which formed part of the Group’s professional services division. Centaur will consider the best use for the sale proceeds following the completion of its divestment review.
Centaur’s professional services division comprises The Lawyer and a portfolio of market leading event brands across three sectors: travel and meetings, human resources and engineering.
Andria Vidler, Chief Executive of Centaur, commented: “Today’s announcement is another important milestone in Centaur’s ongoing transformation. As we focus on building more robust and stronger recurring revenues, we are reducing Group complexity and overheads that will allow us to deliver efficiencies and improve our operating margins. Our travel and meetings exhibitions have made a valuable contribution to Centaur over the years, and I would like to take this opportunity to thank the team for their commitment. I am pleased that the business is joining Northstar, who recognise its value and whose expertise and understanding of the travel sector will help it to realise its potential.”
Cavendish Corporate Finance is acting as financial adviser to Centaur in relation to the sale of the professional services businesses.
For the year ended 31 December 2018, Centaur’s travel and meetings exhibitions made normalised earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation operating profit of £1.7 million (before central overhead allocations), up from £1.6 million in 2017, on revenues of £6.4 million. At 31 December 2018, the business had gross assets of £1.7 million.[the_ad id=”31605″]