UBM PR Newswire sale could signal more conference acquisitions

WORLD – International event and conference organiser UBM has declined to comment on a UK Sunday Times story (13 Sept.) that it is advancing plans to dispose of its PR Newswire division. The newspaper claimed UBM was aiming to reap £500m (US$770m) from the sale and had sent out documents to potential buyers and had appointed investment bank Evercore to handle the auction. UBM makes most of its profits from organising conferences and trade fairs and it is thought that UBM boss Tim Cobbold could use some of the proceeds from any sale of PR Newswire to reduce the company’s debt. UBM spent £600m on rival Advanstar in June and further acquisitions are likely. If the sale goes through it will signal UBM’s intent to become the world’s biggest business events company and a further move away from print and broadcasting. UBM had delivered a first-half pre-tax profit fall of over 37% for the six months to 30 June 2015.