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 myriad web sites. For the nine months ending Sept. 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.
