13 September 2016
Ocean Media, a Lonsdale Capital Partners (“Lonsdale”) backed leading provider of exhibitions and events in the UK and producer of specialist publications, today announced that it has completed two bolt-on acquisitions; Mercury Events Ltd (“Mercury”), which provides UK based B2C wedding shows, and LMC Ltd (“LMC”), better known as The London Stationery Show. These acquisitions form part of an active buy and build strategy to add complementary divisions to the core business. Lonsdale backed the MBO of Ocean Media in October 2015 with the vision of creating a larger and more significant player in UK exhibitions and events.
The acquisitions form part of an active buy and build strategy implemented under Lonsdale’s ownership, which will supplement Ocean’s forecasted organic growth.
The business has seen impressive year on year growth, with revenues increasing by 40% over the last four years from £12.2m in 2012 to a forecast of £17m in the year ending 2016. The Company plans to continue this acquisition strategy and is actively looking at other potential targets that have similar dominant positions in their respective exhibitions and events markets, or complement the existing operations. By acquiring Hammersmith based Mercury Events, Ocean Media will consolidate its position as the UK’s number one provider of B2C Wedding Shows, as well as broadening the company’s reach through expansion into the Baby and Toddler Shows market.
The acquisition of Bromley based LMC provides a further pillar to the Ocean Media business, adding a dominant player in the niche premium B2B stationery market. David Watt, CEO of Ocean Media, commented: “Mercury is an exciting acquisition and significantly reinforces our position as the number one player in the B2C wedding market. As well as adding strength and depth to our teams, this purchase creates an ideal platform to further improve and grow our consumer shows.” James Knott, Director of Lonsdale Capital who sits on the board of Ocean Media, commented: “These two acquisitions are in line with our strategy to add bolt-on acquisitions to the core Ocean Media business that we acquired last year.
The addition of these small complementary divisions are based on a strong and well considered commercial rationale and should provide an opportunity to benefit from multiple arbitrage upon exit. We continue to look for further acquisition opportunities, to further accelerate the already impressive growth of the business.”
