Informa Loses CEO Gilbertson To New-Look Emap B2B; Centaur Review?
By Robert Andrews - Mon 17 Mar 2008 01:09 AM PST
Apax and Guardian Media Group have poached Informa CEO David Gilbertson to the B2B publishing division of Emap (LSE: EMA) they bought for £1.2 billion before Christmas. In a statement from the so-called Eden Bidco, he said he wanted to grow the company through both organic and acquisition growth, but it appears to mean merging Emap B2B with Apax’s Incisive B2B publisher is off the agenda. At Informa, chairman Peter Rigby will fill in.
Times: “Apax has found it is unable to squeeze costs by combining the business with Incisive. Lenders are unwilling to refinance cheaper debt put in place before the credit crunch for Incisive’s purchase of American Lawyer magazine.” Still, Reed Business Information is still up for grabs - it may be that Apax bids for that as a partner to Incisive.
Centaur: Meanwhile, The Times also reports New Media Age and The Lawyer publisher Centaur is planning a strategic review that could lead to a sell-off. At present, there’s no statement confirming that report, however.
Posted in: Companies, Emap, Guardian Media Group
