Incisive Media, a UK publishing company owned by Apax Partners, has agreed to buy US rival American Lawyer Media for $630 million (€460 million) from Wasserstein & Co, a US private equity firm owned by Lazard chairman Bruce Wasserstein.
The deal is Incisive’s fourth acquisition since London-based Apax Partners backed a £275 million (€407 million, $555 million) management buyout of the business in 2006. Incisive said the two companies had complementary product ranges, so the deal would provide it with a platform for US growth.
American Lawyer Media owns and publishes 33 newspapers and magazines for the US legal and business industries. It has annual sales of about $200 million, not far below Incisive’s sales of about $280 million.
Incisive reportedly trumped competing offers from Avista Capital Partners, a US private equity firm, Source Media, a trade rival backed by Bahrain-headquartered buyout firm Investcorp, and Elevation Partners, a US private equity firm that concentrates on media investments.
Wasserstein has about $2 billion under management. The New York and Los Angeles-based firm originally bought American Lawyer Media for $200 million in 1997 through its first independent fund, US Equity Partners I.
Apax is currently raising its latest buyout fund, which is expected to target just over €11 billion. It is likely to become the biggest raised by a European firm to date, narrowly ahead of Permira’s recent €11.1 billion effort.
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