DODS.L Regulatory News (DODS)

26 Jul 2006 07:02

Huveaux PLC26 July 2006 26 July 2006 HUVEAUX PLC ACQUISITION OF LEADING ONLINE POLITICAL MONITORING BUSINESS Huveaux Group today announces that it has acquired the entire issued sharecapital of Parliamentary Monitoring Services Limited ("PMSL"), including thewhole of its joint venture undertaking, Political Wizard Limited ("PoliticalWizard"), a leading online political monitoring business in the UK and Europeanmarkets. The total consideration payable is £4.88 million in cash. The acquisition of PMSL and Political Wizard represents a significant step inHuveaux's strategic objective of expanding its successful political monitoringand information business which trades under the powerful Dods brand. Theacquisition also enhances Huveaux's digital footprint and revenues, and addsvaluable and complementary online political brands, services and productsincluding Political Wizard, European Wizard and Campaign Wizard. The highlyregarded PMS Parliamentary Companion will also be brought into the Dodsoffering. When combined with Dods' portfolio, these assets and the acquisitionof Political Wizard will: - strengthen Dods' market-leading position in providing politicalinformation, communication and reference data in the UK; - double the number of Dod's monitoring clients, thereby substantiallyincreasing Dods' share in this growing and lucrative market; - enable Dods to deliver a wider range of products and services, includinga new service at lower price points, to new and existing customers, particularlywithin the Civil Service and Public Affairs communities; and - facilitate the expansion of Dods' political monitoring and informationbusiness in the EU and its institutions. All PMSL products and services will be integrated within Huveaux's PoliticalDivision and will benefit from Dods' management experience and marketingstrength as well as infrastructure savings. The consideration payable on completion is £4.3 million with deferredconsideration of £0.58 million payable in four stages through to June 2008subject to, inter alia, the successful completion of a technology transfer andintegration programme. The consideration, including transaction fees andrestructuring costs, will be financed through a £5.4 million secured loan fromBank of Scotland. The consolidated revenues of PMSL and Political Wizard for the last twofinancial years ended 31 December 2004 and 2005 were £593,000 and £817,000respectively and are forecast to be £900,000 for 2006. The normalised annualrunning costs of these acquired businesses within Huveaux are estimated to be£450,000 with an expected annual EBITDA of £450,000. The Board expects the acquisition of Political Wizard to enhance Huveaux'searnings in the first full financial year of ownership. John van Kuffeler, Executive Chairman of Huveaux commented: "The acquisition of Political Wizard will strengthen our position in thestrategically important area of political monitoring and provide an enhancedplatform from which we can continue to build a substantial business, as part ofour highly successful Dods Political Division, both in the UK andinternationally." A presentation for analysts will be held at 9.30 am today at the offices ofDresdner Kleinwort, 30 Gresham Street, London EC2V 7PG. Coffee will be availablefrom 9.15 am. For further information, please contact: Huveaux John van Kuffeler, Executive Chairman 020 7245 0270 Gerry Murray, Chief Executive Officer Dan O'Brien, Group Finance Director Finsbury Katie Lang 020 7251 3801 Don Hunter Note to Editors: Huveaux was formed in 2001 with the objective of building a substantial,high-quality publishing and media group. It is now twenty fold the size when itfirst listed on AIM. The Group consists of three Divisions each of which has strong brands and marketleading positions: Political Division comprises Dod's Parliamentary Companion, The House Magazine,Epolitix.com and numerous other magazine titles and revenue-generating websites.It is the market leader in Political business-to-business publishing in the UKand the EU. Learning Division comprises Epic, the UK market leader in e-learning, TheTraining Journal magazine and seminar business, Lonsdale Revision Guides forschools and the highly acclaimed Westminster Explained conferences and seminars. Healthcare Division, based in France, comprises Panorama du Medecin, a leadingweekly magazine for French doctors, Le Concours Medical and La Revue duPraticien, both market-leading Continuing Medical Education magazines, Egora.fr,the leading medical information website, and a number of other magazines and amedical conference business. Huveaux has now completed ten successful acquisitions over the past four yearsand employs more than 450 staff in London, Paris, Brussels and four UK regionaloffices. Further information about Huveaux can be found at www.huveauxplc.com The name Huveaux is a trademark of Huveaux PLC. All other trademarks mentionedherein are the property of Huveaux's respective subsidiary companies. All rightsreserved. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange