Incisive Media

History

Incisive Media is a business-to-business (B2B) information and events company founded by Tim Weller, in 1994 with the launch of Investment Week. It acquired Timothy Benn Publishing (owner of Post Magazine) in August 2000. It was listed on the main market of the London Stock Exchange in December 2000 which valued the business at c. £73m. During the next six years the business completed a number of acquisitions including Matching Hat, Risk Waters, Initiative Europe (Unquote), Search Engine Strategies, Global Professional Media, Asian Venture Capital Journal and Pacific Prospect. However, as a public company it was difficult to take advantage of some of the larger consolidation opportunities that existed, so in December 2006 Tim Weller led a management buyout deal backed by Apax Partners that valued Incisive Media at £275 million.

Within a few months of going private, Incisive Media completed the acquisitions of MSM International and UK publishing business VNU Business Publications Ltd, formerly part of The Nielsen Company, from venture capital group 3i in 2007. In August 2007 the company completed a $630m deal to acquire ALM, an American magazine publisher that was backed by Bruce Wasserstein, doubling the size of the group again and creating a company with an enterprise value of over $1bn.

However, following the collapse of Lehman Brothers and the downturn in the financial services market, Incisive Media's markets came under significant pressure and the debt levels were no longer sustainable. In October 2009 Incisive Media announced the refinancing of the Group's debt. ALM was separated from the Group and was Acquired by RBS and Apax Partners. In the same month Incisive Media agreed to a debt-for-equity swap with its lenders.

Ownership and Management

In January 2015, Incisive Media's lenders agreed a restructuring which saw private equity house Alchemy Partners acquire a majority ownership of the business. The restructure helped reduce Incisive's debts significantly, allowing it to reinvest in the business. Tim Weller is now Executive Chairman with former Informa and Emap CEO David Gilbertson joining the board of directors as a Non-Executive Director.

Incisive Insight and Incisive Business

In January 2015 Company was re-organised into two divisions Incisive Insight and Incisive Business and launched its Revenue acceleration and investment plan. The company employs more than 750 people working in London, New York and Hong Kong. In June 2015 Incisive Media acquired Chartis Research limited founded by Peyman Mestchian. Chartis has a 10-year track record of providing in-depth research and analysis. The London-based firm analyses the systems, products, vendors, applications and trends in the global risk technology market. This analysis is published in flagship industry reports, white papers and research articles. In September 2015 Incisive Media sold its Private Equity portfolio including AVCJ and Unqoute to Mergermarket Group and in the same month Contentive acquired Accountancy Age and Financial Director.

In January 2016 Legal Week was acquired by leading US publisher ALM, a deal which reunites Legal Week with its former sister company and publisher of titles including The American Lawyer and Corporate Counsel.

Worldwide Locations

Brands

Incisive Media is an award winning information and events business and offers a range of websites, conferences, events and training products. It provides information and education for professionals working in financial and technology markets.

It publishes a range of different magazines which focus on the B2B market, targeting different sectors.

Journals

Websites

Awards

The group received five nominations for the June 2010 Association of Online Publishers awards, and was voted Digital Publisher of the Year. Also it received the same award in 2013 and in 2016