6th Jun 2005 12:41
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEMonday 6th June, 2004Candover backs Wood Mackenzie growth plansCandover*, a private equity house specialising in European buyouts, todayannounces that it has signed an agreement with Wood Mackenzie, a leadingprovider of research and consulting services, to finance the company's nextstage of growth. The deal provides Wood Mackenzie with a significantopportunity to extend its portfolio of products through organic investment andstrategic add-on acquisitions, as well as providing the means to furtherdevelop its international presence.Wood Mackenzie's reputation as one of the leading providers of high qualityresearch and consulting solutions to the Energy and Life Sciences industriesdates back to 1973. Its Energy coverage has shown strong growth driven bycontinued development and upgrades to the company's products, analytics andexpansion of the addressable markets. Coverage now extends across 93 countriescovering upstream oil and gas, oil refining and marketing, downstream gas andpower generation. Energy clients include all of the major energy companiesworldwide.In 1981, Wood Mackenzie expanded its research offering into the Life Sciencesindustry including Pharmaceuticals, Biotechnology and Animal Health industries.The company now offers research and consulting services in both Europe andNorth America. Life Sciences clients include all of the major pharmaceutical,biotechnology and animal health companies globally.In 2001, Wood Mackenzie was bought by its management and staff from DeutscheBank. The MBO was financed by the company's staff and an Integrated Financepackage from Bank of Scotland Corporate. Bank of Scotland will retain a smallequity share in the company moving forward. Corporate Finance advice wasprovided by Deloitte.Commenting on the announcement, Ian Gray, Director of Candover said:"Wood Mackenzie is a world-class research and consulting business with a marketleading position in the Energy sector and a growing position in Life Sciences.The management team, led by Paul Gregory, has a proven track record andexciting plans for the next phase of growth in the business. We are verypleased to be able to support Paul and his team as they pursue the considerableopportunities to grow the business both organically and through acquisition."Commenting on the announcement, Paul Gregory, CEO of Wood Mackenzie said:"We are excited to be working with such a strong business partner as we embarkon the next stage of growth for the company. Our strategic objective is tobecome the leading supplier of content, analytics and knowledge-basedconsulting to the global Energy and Life Sciences industries and thispartnership with Candover will give us access to business expertise and fundingto help us achieve this."The investment in Wood Mackenzie will be the fourteenth investment made by theCandover 2001 Fund. Following the completion of the transaction, the 2001 Fundwill be 81% drawn down. ##### Note to Editors:Wood Mackenzie has been providing its unique range of consulting services andresearch products to the Energy and Life Sciences industries for over 30 years.With its foundation in quality analysis, detailed industry understanding andwealth of experience, Wood Mackenzie is able to offer clients a unique skillcombination that sets the company apart from other solution providers. WoodMackenzie's market proposition is based on its ability to provideforward-looking commercial insight that enables clients to make better businessdecisions. The company employs around 325 staff making it one of the largestEnergy and Life Sciences research and consulting companies in the world. Whilstmost staff are located at the head office in Edinburgh, Scotland, WoodMackenzie also has offices in London, New York, Houston, Boston, Moscow,Sydney, Tokyo, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Beijing. For more information visit:www.woodmac.com.Candover* is a leading provider of equity for large European buyouts. Since itsformation in 1980, it has invested in more than 123 buyouts worth over ¢â€š¬25billion. Investment in deals by Candover is provided in two forms, fromCandover Investments plc, a publicly quoted investment trust capitalised ataround ¢â€š¬470 million, and from funds managed by Candover Partners, a whollyowned subsidiary. Candover's latest fund, the Candover 2001 Fund, raised ¢â€š¬2.7billion which brought Candover's total funds managed since inception to over ¢â€š¬5billion.Prior to today's announcement, the Candover 2001 Fund had made thirteeninvestments: the ¢â€š¬465 million acquisition of Thule, the world leader in sportsutility transportation, the acquisition of Alcontrol, a leading Europeanenvironmental and food testing company; the buyout of Bureau van Dijk‚¸ one ofEurope's leading electronic publishers of business information; the ¢â€š¬320million acquisition of UCB's Films business, now known as Innovia Films; the ¢â€š¬729 million acquisition of Vetco International, a major global participant inthe oilfield services sector; the ¢â€š¬182.5 million buyout of Equity Trust, aglobal provider of trust and fiduciary services; the ¢â€š¬1.65 billion acquisitionof academic publishers BertelsmannSpringer and Kluwer Academic Publishers toform a new company, Springer; the ¢â€š¬141 million MBI of Wellstream, amanufacturer of flexible pipe for the offshore oil and gas sector; the ¢â€š¬1.9billion buyout of Gala, the retail gaming company; the ¢â€š¬1 billion buyout ofBelgium-based Ontex, a leading European producer of hygiene products for thebabycare, feminine hygiene and adult care markets; the ¢â€š¬709 million formationof Aspen Insurance, one of the largest independent reinsurance vehicles in theUK market; and the ¢â€š¬393 million buyout of Swissport, a global ground handlingbusiness, from the former Swissair Group AG. The 2001 Fund also invested in the¢â€š¬3.1bn buyout of Kabel Deutschland GmbH, a German cable TV company.The Candover Group has three offices in London, Paris and Dƒ¼sseldorf, and alocal advisor in Madrid. Candover Partners Limited is authorised and regulatedby the Financial Services Authority in the UK.For further information, please refer to the website: www.candover.com*Candover means Candover Investments plc and/ or Candover Partners Limited asGeneral Partner of the Candover 2001 Fund.Further information:Wood Mackenzie: Candover:Kirsten Oosterhof, Global PR Manager Ian Gray, DirectorT: +44 (0) 131 243 4244 T: +44 (0) 207 489 9848M: +44 (0)7733 015 391 E: [email protected]: [email protected] CommunicationsKate Inverarity / Peter HewerT: +44 (0) 207 353 4200E: [email protected] INVESTMENTS PLCRelated Shares:
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