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Press monitoring group Precise Media has been scooped up in a management buy-out for £42 million after securing the backing of Phoenix Equity Partners, which has taken a majority shareholding in the business.

The management team, led by chief executive Peter Low, has retained a minority stake in the business. Low is joined by sales director Keir Fawcus, operations director Charles Hilliard and head of IT Tony Prime.

Phoenix’s investment was managed by Kevin Keck and James Thomas, who join Precise’s board under the terms of the funding agreement.

Keck declined to disclose how much was invested in the deal or how many shares Phoenix holds, but said the company had been tracking Precise and its sector for some time. “We think media monitoring will become increasingly important as there are more sources that people need to keep track of,” he said.

He added that Phoenix also believed the buy-out team had the drive and experience to take Precise forward. “Most importantly, the management has done a great job in building the group over the past couple of years and they are enthusiastic about continuing to build the business during the course of our investment.”

Precise was sold by private equity and venture capital firm 3i almost two years after it backed a buy-in management buy-out at the company. 3i made £24 million from this sale, representing an IRR of 101% and a multiple of 3.2.

The buy-out team and Phoenix were advised by KPMG Corporate Finance, while 3i was assisted by PricewaterhouseCoopers and law firm Osborne Clarke.

Phoenix asked Whitehead Mann to handle the management due diligence review, which it has done on the firm’s previous deals. Its team was led by Carol House, a partner in the firm’s private equity practice.

House said the firm was asked to carry out due diligence on the two incumbent members of Precise’s management. “It was important for Phoenix to determine whether the current finance director Peter Low had the requisite skill set to move to his proposed role of CEO. Director Keir Fawcus has considerable experience in the industry and Phoenix was keen to take an independent view on his track record and reputation in the sector.” 

She added that through external referencing, she and her team gathered thorough and objective information on the two executives to provide Phoenix with an analysis which it could use to make decisions.

The commercial due diligence review was managed by Mark Jeynes, senior principal and head of Parthenon’s private equity practice.

Jeynes said Parthenon was approached to work on the deal due to its continuing relationship with Phoenix. He added that the deal had its challenges. “The UK media monitoring market is not very well covered in terms of market data. We therefore had to complete an extensive market research programme to build a view on market size and growth.”

Precise provides media monitoring, editorial and evaluation services from more than 10,000 UK and international print and online media sources for FTSE 100 companies, PR consultancies and government departments.

The group, which was established in 1996 by former Financial Times managers Martin Knight and Chris Banner, comprises five agencies - Precise Media, EDS Media, EPCA, Clipability and Media Report.

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