Forbes Lands the Whale – July 2014 M&A Activity
Forbes landed the big fish, achieving an estimated $475 million sale price, after much skepticism that the company could find a buyer that was willing to ante up the $400 million that the company was seeking. The buyer, a Hong Kong-based investor group improbably named Integrated Whale Media Investments, apparently wanted to make sure that this one did not get away. According to Forbes’ own projections that were prepared for prospective buyers and circulated earlier this year, the company estimated that revenues in 2013 would wrap up at $144.6 million with EBITDA of $20.8 million. If true, the reported purchase price represents a whopping multiple of 22.8 times cash flow and more than 325% of trailing revenues. Clearly the global cachet of the Forbes brand was the value driver in this deal, and the price is stunning in comparison to the paltry multiples paid for most publishing companies in recent years. Since the exact terms of the deal are private, maybe it’s all one big fish story…