31st Mar 2005 12:53
For immediate release 31st March 2005 United Business Media completes acquisition of leading French healthcare media business United Business Media today announced that it has completed the acquisition ofthe medical trade press and other professional healthcare business informationservices in France, bought from MediMedia. The major products and brands - suchas Le Quotidien du Medecin and Le Generaliste - occupy leading positions in theFrench medical press with more than half of total advertising spend directed atgeneral practitioners. The initial agreement to acquire this business wasannounced on 18th January 2005. These businesses will become part of CMPMedica France, where they willcomplement the existing major drug directory business, Vidal - with reciprocalpromotion and access to advertisers, government and health professionals. Thereis scope to expand the major brands into customised services and content-basedmarketing. UBM acquired CMPMedica during 2004.The purchase price is ¢â€š¬36 million in cash, and the completion of thetransaction is subject to satisfactory completion of the contract and relatedconditions. In 2004 the business generated approximately ¢â€š¬60m of turnover and ¢â€š¬6m of profit before tax. The proposed acquisition should increase earnings bymore than 2% in its first twelve months.For further information, please contact: Michael Waring United Business Media 020 7921 5031 Fiona Piper The Maitland Consultancy 020 7379 5151 Notes to Editors: Trade PressThe three main titles are the pre-eminent daily doctors' paper, Quotidien duMedecin, a weekly, Le Generaliste, and a bi-weekly for pharmacists, Quotidiendu Pharmacien. Together, the doctors' titles held a 54% share of theadvertising market in 2003. In 2004 Quotidien du Pharmacien took the leadingposition in its market.Trade showsThis division contains a biennial hospital trade show, Hopital Expo, and themajor annual doctors' conference and exhibition, Medec.CMPMedica, a leading provider of healthcare information, communication andservices, is an international company with a reputation for the quality andinnovation of its products.United Business Media acquired CMPMedica on 30th July 2004 - details are on theUBM website at www.unitedbusinessmedia.comUnited Business Media plc (http://www.unitedbusinessmedia.com) is aleading provider of business information services to the technology,healthcare, media, automotive, financial services and property industries. UBMoffers services in news distribution, market research, publishing and events tocustomers across the globe. Its brands include PR Newswire, the world's leadingcorporate news distribution service; NOP World, one of the largest marketresearch groups globally; and CMP, the B2B media and exhibition group operatingin high tech, healthcare, property, entertainment, jewellery & fashion in theUS, UK, Asia and Europe. This press release includes statements which are not historical facts and areconsidered "forward-looking" within the meaning of Section 27 of the SecuritiesAct of 1933, as amended. These forward-looking statements reflect UBM's currentviews about future events, business and growth strategy and financialperformance. These forward-looking statements are identified by their use ofterms and phrases such as "believe," "expect," "plan," "anticipate," "ontarget" and similar expressions identifying forward-looking statements.Investors should not rely on forward-looking statements because they aresubject to a variety of risks, uncertainties and other factors that could causeactual results to differ materially from UBM's expectations. UBM expressly doesnot undertake any duty to update forward-looking statements. Management doesnot attempt to update forecasts unless conditions materially change.ENDUNITED BUSINESS MEDIA PLCRelated Shares:
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