InvestmentNews parent Bonhill Group to acquire Last Word Media

Bonhill Group plc, InvestmentNews' parent company, plans to acquire Last Word Media, a business-to-business media company, for 8 million pounds ($10.6 million). Last Word provides live events, research, data and information to the global wealth and asset management industries. It currently operates seven investor-facing media brands, including Portfolio Advisor and Expert Investor. In 2018, these brands collectively hosted 86 live events. Last Word also operates an additional three brands targeting asset managers with event services, content marketing and research data products. The company is owned by Rod Boulogne, Jamie Hinchliffe and Dylan Emery, who founded Last Word in 2005, and Tom Porter, who co-founded Last Word's Asian operation. There are 71 employees working in Last Word's London headquarters, along with another eight in Hong Kong and three in Singapore. The acquisition will help expand Bonhill's geographical footprint in the United Kingdom, Europe, Middle East, Africa and Asian markets. Bonhill also plans to leverage the InvestmentNews platform to bring Last Word's products to the U.S. "Bringing our two businesses together will enable Bonhill to provide a truly global sales and marketing proposition to the international asset management community, and provides the opportunity to leverage InvestmentNews' presence and platform to expand Last Word's existing propositions," Simon Stilwell, Bonhill's CEO, said in a statement. "We are all very happy about the synergies InvestmentNews has with Last Word, and look forward to collaborating with them after the deal is approved," said Suzanne Siracuse, CEO and publisher of InvestmentNews. Bonhill will pay 6 million pounds ($7.9 million) in cash for Last Word. The remainder will be paid in Bonhill stock. To finance the initial cash consideration, Bonhill will raise 10 million pounds ($13.2 million) in equity funding. The acquisition is subject to approval of Bonhill's shareholders, which is expected to be finalized April 9.