MANAMA, 21 November 2004 — Bahrain-based Investcorp, the global investment group, announced yesterday that it has closed its $350 million acquisition of Thomson Media, previously a division of electronic publishing group, Thomson Corporation.
This investment is now being offered to Investcorp’s client base.
Thomson Media is a leading provider of print and electronic media that reports on banking, financial services and related technology markets. Its former parent, Thomson Corporation, was once the largest newspaper publisher in Canada and owner of the prestigious Times of London newspaper.
In 2003, Thomson Media’s revenues were approximately $170 million. To reflect its separation from Thomson Corporation, Thomson Media will be renamed Source Media. “The firm intended to take Thomson Media to a new level of growth, through a combination of organic business expansion and acquisition,” said Investcorp’s Chief Operating Officer Gary Long. “This is Investcorp’s first acquisition in the media sector and we have examined it thoroughly. We are confident that the Thomson Media publications provide appealing growth characteristics, due to their loyal customer bases and unparalleled brand strengths. In combination, they form an excellent business that can deliver our Gulf investors substantial opportunities for incremental revenue generation.”
Investcorp has offices in Bahrain, London and New York. The firm specializes in four lines of business: Corporate investment, real estate investment, asset management and technology investment. It was established in 1982 and has since completed transactions with an aggregate value exceeding $25 billion.