UBM Builds Up Portfolio With Aprovia Acquisition

United Business Media has added to its stable of construction magazines with the acquisition of Aprovia UK for £79 million.

The deal will see Aprovia, which includes The Builder Group and Barbour Index, integrated into UBM’s CMP Information division. It was bought by venture capitalists Cinven, Carlyle and Apax from Vivendi Universal in June 2002.

The Builder Group publishes a number of leading trade titles including Building and Housing Today while the Barbour Index is a primary source of information on construction, health and safety.

The acquisition takes UBM’s share of the construction media market to more than 30%. It already publishes titles such as Property Week and Building Design.

Clive Hollick, chief executive of UBM, said: “This acquisition is financially and strategically attractive. We expect that it will be earnings enhancing in 2003 and quickly surpass United’s hurdle rate of return on capital. It will strengthen CMPi’s leadership position in the UK construction and design market.”

The company claimed recently that trading conditions were at their most stable in two years and CMP continues to outperform the hi-tech publishing sector as a whole.

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