Taylor & Francis acquires CRC Press from Information Holdings, Inc. (28 February 2003) Acquisition of CRC Press for US$95m strengthens US presence and extends scientific and engineering portfolios. Taylor & Francis Group plc (“Taylor & Francis”, “Group”), the leading specialist publisher of scientific, academic and professional books and journals, announced today that it has agreed to acquire the business and assets of the CRC Press group of companies (“CRC”), the US based STM publisher. The cash consideration of $95 million (£60 million) is payable from Group cash resources and banking facilities. Founded nearly a century ago CRC is a leading publisher of professional reference books and journals and other subscription products in the specialist areas of science, engineering and medicine. CRC, which has a number of well-known imprints including CRC Press and Parthenon Press, publishes 32 journals and 350 new book titles per year and has a backlist of over 6,000 book titles. CRC is being sold by Information Holdings Inc, its New York Stock Exchange quoted parent. CRC employs around 250 staff and has offices in Boca Raton, Florida, New York City and Washington D.C. in the US and in London and Lancaster in the UK. CRC’s turnover for 2002 was $51.7 million (£32.7 million) producing an operating profit before goodwill amortisation of $8.7 million (£5.5 million) and profit before tax of $6.8 million (£4.3 million).) Net assets at 31 December 2002 were $43.1 million (£27.3 million) including goodwill and other intangible assets of $28.2 million (£17.8 million). In May 2001 CRC acquired The Parthenon Publishing Group Limited and the full benefit of this acquisition was seen in CRC’s 2002 results. Excluding acquisitions, underlying organic growth in revenues for the rest of the business in 2002 was 8.3%. The nature of CRC’s US dollar revenues and the US dollar purchase consideration will effectively reduce the enlarged Group’s cash flow based exchange exposure. The CRC titles are of a high quality and will enhance the Group’s existing scientific and engineering portfolios and strengthen further its operations in the important North American STM books and journals market segment. In particular, the high impact factor “Critical Review” journal titles published under the CRC imprint will complement the primary research titles published by Taylor & Francis in these fields. CRC’s publications have good growth potential as part of a larger group and will benefit from Taylor & Francis’ international customer base and its traditional and electronic publishing expertise. As a result of these factors and natural economies of scale, it is expected that the acquisition will be earnings enhancing in the current year*. The acquisition of the CRC titles is consistent with Taylor & Francis’ stated strategy of growing its portfolio of “must have” information through well-planned organic development and selected earnings enhancing acquisitions in the consolidating STM publishing market. Following the acquisition Taylor & Francis will publish 803 journals, 2,300 new book titles per year and have a backlist of over 26,000 book titles. Commenting on the acquisition David Smith, Chief Executive of Taylor & Francis Group plc said, “The addition of the well regarded CRC portfolio to our own STM publishing assets will strengthen our position in the US, the world’s largest STM publishing market segment, whilst the complementary nature of the publications will enhance our “hard science” offering worldwide. STM publishing is a genuinely international business and as a result the CRC titles will benefit from our international customer base and electronic publishing expertise. This acquisition is not only attractive financially, it will also further enhance the overall quality of Taylor & Francis’ portfolio of books and journals. “The acquisition of CRC is consistent with our stated strategy of growing our business through a combination of organic growth and earnings enhancing acquisitions. In the last five years we have acquired and successfully integrated eight businesses. This not only demonstrates our ability to identify, acquire and integrate companies, it also reflects the fragmented nature of the STM publishing market where we continue to examine a number of opportunities.” The van Tulleken Company advised Information Holdings, Inc.
Taylor & Francis acquires CRC Press from Information Holdings, Inc.
(28 February 2003) Acquisition of CRC Press for US$95m strengthens US presence and extends scientific and engineering portfolios.
Taylor & Francis Group plc (“Taylor & Francis”, “Group”), the leading specialist publisher of scientific, academic and professional books and journals, announced today that it has agreed to acquire the business and assets of the CRC Press group of companies (“CRC”), the US based STM publisher. The cash consideration of $95 million (£60 million) is payable from Group cash resources and banking facilities.
Founded nearly a century ago CRC is a leading publisher of professional reference books and journals and other subscription products in the specialist areas of science, engineering and medicine. CRC, which has a number of well-known imprints including CRC Press and Parthenon Press, publishes 32 journals and 350 new book titles per year and has a backlist of over 6,000 book titles. CRC is being sold by Information Holdings Inc, its New York Stock Exchange quoted parent. CRC employs around 250 staff and has offices in Boca Raton, Florida, New York City and Washington D.C. in the US and in London and Lancaster in the UK.
CRC’s turnover for 2002 was $51.7 million (£32.7 million) producing an operating profit before goodwill amortisation of $8.7 million (£5.5 million) and profit before tax of $6.8 million (£4.3 million).) Net assets at 31 December 2002 were $43.1 million (£27.3 million) including goodwill and other intangible assets of $28.2 million (£17.8 million). In May 2001 CRC acquired The Parthenon Publishing Group Limited and the full benefit of this acquisition was seen in CRC’s 2002 results. Excluding acquisitions, underlying organic growth in revenues for the rest of the business in 2002 was 8.3%. The nature of CRC’s US dollar revenues and the US dollar purchase consideration will effectively reduce the enlarged Group’s cash flow based exchange exposure. The CRC titles are of a high quality and will enhance the Group’s existing scientific and engineering portfolios and strengthen further its operations in the important North American STM books and journals market segment. In particular, the high impact factor “Critical Review” journal titles published under the CRC imprint will complement the primary research titles published by Taylor & Francis in these fields. CRC’s publications have good growth potential as part of a larger group and will benefit from Taylor & Francis’ international customer base and its traditional and electronic publishing expertise. As a result of these factors and natural economies of scale, it is expected that the acquisition will be earnings enhancing in the current year*.
The acquisition of the CRC titles is consistent with Taylor & Francis’ stated strategy of growing its portfolio of “must have” information through well-planned organic development and selected earnings enhancing acquisitions in the consolidating STM publishing market. Following the acquisition Taylor & Francis will publish 803 journals, 2,300 new book titles per year and have a backlist of over 26,000 book titles.
Commenting on the acquisition David Smith, Chief Executive of Taylor & Francis Group plc said,
“The addition of the well regarded CRC portfolio to our own STM publishing assets will strengthen our position in the US, the world’s largest STM publishing market segment, whilst the complementary nature of the publications will enhance our “hard science” offering worldwide. STM publishing is a genuinely international business and as a result the CRC titles will benefit from our international customer base and electronic publishing expertise. This acquisition is not only attractive financially, it will also further enhance the overall quality of Taylor & Francis’ portfolio of books and journals.
“The acquisition of CRC is consistent with our stated strategy of growing our business through a combination of organic growth and earnings enhancing acquisitions. In the last five years we have acquired and successfully integrated eight businesses. This not only demonstrates our ability to identify, acquire and integrate companies, it also reflects the fragmented nature of the STM publishing market where we continue to examine a number of opportunities.”
The van Tulleken Company advised Information Holdings, Inc.
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