Euromoney Institutional Investor (LON:ERM), the global information business providing essential B2B information to global and specialist markets, has announced the acquisition of 100% of Wealth-X Pte. Ltd.
Wealth-X is the market-leading provider of data-driven intelligence on the world’s wealthiest individuals. The platform’s proprietary database is embedded in the workflow of banks, wealth managers, luxury brands and non-profit customers. It is used for business development and Know Your Client activities.
The acquisition adds a further 3.0 information services business to the portfolio within the Financial & Professional Services (FPS) division.
Wealth-X is expected to deliver a revenue CAGR of 13% for the 3 years to 31 December 2019. Unaudited revenue and pro forma EBITDA[1] for the 2019 financial year is expected to be $12.7m and $0.8m respectively. Revenues are derived predominantly from selling subscriptions which have high renewal rates.
Wealth-X is highly complementary to BoardEx, a market-leading executive profiling and relationship mapping business acquired by Euromoney in February 2019. Wealth-X provides intelligence on business development opportunities within the high net worth and ultra-high net worth markets and BoardEx facilitates the relationship network to connect these individuals. As a result, the acquisition is expected to accelerate BoardEx’s expansion into the fast-growing Wealth Management sector.
Wealth-X and BoardEx share complementary technologies and people intelligence processes. Both products are directly integrated into a client’s CRM system and share a common roadmap for future development. Under Euromoney’s ownership there are further opportunities to increase scale and accelerate growth.
Euromoney will pay $20.4 million in cash for Wealth-X representing a 1.6x multiple of 2019 revenue and 25.6x multiple of 2019 EBITDA. This is expected to reflect a multiple of below 12x 2020 EBITDA. The acquisition is expected to enhance group revenue growth and be earnings accretive for Euromoney in its current financial year and deliver a ROI above its WACC in the first full financial year.
Jeff Davis, CEO, Financial & Professional Services, Euromoney Institutional Investor, said: “The acquisition of Wealth-X is a great addition to Euromoney’s portfolio and supports our strategy to evolve towards a 3.0 information services business. Wealth-X is a leading brand, providing workflow solutions and must-have information to the fast-growing Wealth Management market, as well as luxury and non-profit sectors. Wealth-X is highly complementary to our existing portfolio and along with BoardEx, it will create further scale within our People Intelligence offering and accelerates the growth of both businesses”.
