~DEAL ZONE~ gb
growthbusiness.co.uk
Deal Zone is brought to you by
GrowthBusiness.co.uk, the sister website of Business XL. The site offers expert advice and insights from fellow entrepreneurs on raising finance, strategy and business expansion, and is the only comprehensive source of information on public and private growth company deals. These pages provide a sample of what’s available: visit
www.GrowthBusiness.co.uk for more.
TODD CARDY,
GROWTHBUSINESS.CO.UK
1 2
Top five stories on
GrowthBusiness.co.uk
3 4 5
Moonpig sold to PhotoBox for £120 million Private copying legalised as part of wider IP reforms Cameron’s Big Society Bank launched Consumer confidence dips as retail sales rise Back in favour: VCTs in 2011 Month to 23 July 2011
Moonpig.com sold to PhotoBox for £120 million O O 40 BUSINESS XL
nline greetings card retailer
Moonpig.com has been sold to online digital photo service
PhotoBox for £120 million in a merger that will create one of Europe’s largest personal publishers, the companies have announced. Nick Jenkins, the founder and chairman of Moonpig, is set for a multi-million pound windfall after agreeing to sell the business, including some of his 35 per cent stake, to PhotoBox.
Under the terms of the £120 million
purchase, Moonpig’s existing shareholders will roll over a portion of their holdings to the newly merged group. Existing shareholders including Highland Capital Partners, Index
Ventures and HarbourVest have backed the deal, which also secured the support of a group of new private equity investors led by Insight Venture Partners, Quilvest Ventures and Greenspring Associates. PhotoBox and Moonpig will
continue to operate as separate brands, but the group expects to leverage increased scale and the complementary customer bases to deliver growth. Together, they will have 15 million members with about six million active customers in 15 countries. PhotoBox, whose turnover was €80 million
(£72 million) last year, processed more than one million individual photo prints each day in 2010 for its 11 million members.
Moonpig has
shipped more than 12 million cards to
nearly three million customers in the past 12 months. Moonpig’s turnover was £38 million in the year ending April 2011. The senior management teams of both businesses will remain following the merger. n
MITIE acquires five of its start-ups for £14.6 million
utsourcing company MITIE has agreed to acquire the remaining shareholdings of four start-up
businesses, and the majority of a fifth, which had been backed by the company’s shared- equity model. The FTSE 250 company will pay a total of £14.6 million for the early-stage companies that were launched with the company’s support during the past five to six years. Under the “MITIE model”, entrepreneurs from both the private and public sectors who want to create a business in the support services sector can apply for financial support from the company. MITIE takes a minimum stake of 51 per cent in each new venture, and holds first rights to purchase the business should it thrive. MITIE claims to have invested in
the management teams of more than 80 companies over the past two decades using the innovative model. The group will purchase minority shareholdings in MITIE Cleaning Services, MITIE Engineering Maintenance (Caledonia), MITIE Landscapes, MITIE Property Services and MITIE Transport Services. Of the £14.6 million bill, £2 million will be paid in cash with the remainder satisfied via the issue of new MITIE shares. Chief executive Ruby McGregor-Smith
opines, ‘We see a significant opportunity for the MITIE model to support our aspirations for growth and we hope that more entrepreneurs will join us to grow similarly successful businesses.’ MITIE launched a new £10 million
Ruby McGregor-Smith Entrepreneurial Fund in January this year. n
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60