Advanstar takes $1.14 billion secondary buyout

Posted Mar 29th 2007 5:49PM by Tom Taulli
Filed under: Private Equity

Back during the heady times of 2000, DLJ Merchant Banking Partners purchased Advanstar Communications for $900 million. The previous owner was the private equity firm Hellman & Friedman.

Well, DLJ has sold it once again. And, yes the buyers include private equity firms (this is known as a secondary buyout).

The price tag on the Advanstar deal is for $1.14 billion in cash and the suitors include Veronis Suhler Stevenson, Citigroup Private Equity and New York Life Capital Partners.

Advanstar is a media company that has trade shows, trade publications and a myriad of web sites. For the nine months ending September 30, 2006, the company generated roughly $261.8 million in revenue. There was also a net loss of $640,000.

Veronis Suhler Stevenson has extensive experience in the media industry and should be a strong financial partner. And it does look like Advanstar needs some TLC.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including the Complete M&A Handbook and the EDGAR-Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements.

Tags: Advanstar Communications, AdvanstarCommunications