Centaur Media group has announced the purchase of leading digital marketing site Econsultancy to the London Stock Exchange for an initial consideration of £12m, subject to shareholder approval on 9 July.



Founded in 1999, Econsultancy is a community for digital marketing professionals, publishing a popular blog reaching over 100,000 subscribed members. Centaur, who already parent NewMediaAge, Marketing Week and The Lawyer, will add Econsultancy to its portfolio after it secured a £40 million credit facility from Barclays and RBS to finance the deal.

The deal involves £12 million in cash now, with up to a further £38 million by 2016 based on profit performance, making it worth £50 million ($78 million).

Geoff Wilmot, Centaur Chief Executive, said: "The earnings enhancing acquisition of Econsultancy provides us with an exciting opportunity to acquire a leading information brand in a high growth sector with global potential which fits well with Centaur products including Marketing Week and New Media Age.

"Econsultancy is highly complementary with Centaur and gives us a prominent position in the rapidly growing digital marketing sector with the opportunity to scale internationally. We see considerable potential for collaborative growth through leveraging our existing position in marketing and the development of high value, paid-for information services."