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Elevation eyes mags, but skips Dennis
By Michael Flaherty
(Reuters) - Elevation Partners, the private equity firm with U2's Bono among its founders, sees magazine assets as hot investment turf, driven by growth through online expansion, according to managing director Bret Pearlman.
Despite a bullish view toward magazines, Elevation has skipped the auction for Dennis Publishing Inc., publisher of "Maxim" magazine, Pearlman said.
Pearlman would not comment on the auction for part of magazine publisher Primedia, though he said the media's reporting on bidders appears to be fair. Elevation has been named as a bidder.
Elevation invested roughly $200 million (101 million pounds) in Forbes magazine last year, and is involved with its push toward increasing its online content. The firm has also invested in a real estate Web site and a video game maker.
"We're more interested on the magazine side," Pearlman said, about the firm's current focus, speaking at the Reuters Hedge Funds and Private Equity Summit here on Tuesday.
Regarding Forbes, Pearlman said "You will see a revolutionary, user-generated content application" on Forbes' Web site in the near-term. He disputed a recent article that there was tension between Elevation and a top Forbes executive.
"Honestly, we are collectively so shocked. It is truly an extremely harmonious relationship," he said. "We are six to eight months into a transaction that we're extremely enthused to be partners with the Forbes family."
Elevation was founded by Pearlman, a Blackstone Group veteran; Fred Anderson, the former CFO of Apple Computer; Marc Bodnick and Roger McNamee, founding members of Silver Lake; and rock star Bono. The Menlo Park, California-based firm raised a $1.9 billion private equity fund in 2005 that focuses on media and entertainment investments. The firm, which gets its name from a U2 song, has invested in video game maker BioWare / Pandemic Studios, Forbes, and real estate Web site Move Inc.
FORBES, FACEBOOK
Regarding several magazine bids that failed last year, Pearlman said that a high asking price and limited online presence were among the factors that deterred investors.
Elevation is not bidding for Dennis Publishing, he said, which put itself up for sale earlier this year.
"I think our perspective was that that particular asset has seen some recent significant pressure on its core profitability and in that instance they had actually done a decent job in terms of exploiting its online opportunities," he said.
"We are looking for situations where there are obvious or relatively straightforward ways to improve online profitability with a somewhat stable core print business, and in this situation was somewhat the opposite -- troubled print business and relatively well executed online strategy," he added.
Pearlman would not comment on Primedia, but his statements appeared to affirm that Elevation is interested. Primedia Inc. said in February that its board authorised the company to explore the sale of its Enthusiast Media segment.
Elevation was brought in by Forbes to invest and advise on its online expansion, Pearlman said, adding that the business news publisher plans to focus on video generated content.
Pearlman also said he is bullish about Facebook's business prospects, as several Elevation partners are investors in the social networking Web site.
"They've made it very user-friendly," he said. "It is a dot com that, if they really decide to go on their own, I think in couple years time it could be a really exciting IPO story."
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/rtrs/20070410/tbs-uk-funds-summit-elevation-03c9bed.html
By Michael Flaherty
(Reuters) - Elevation Partners, the private equity firm with U2's Bono among its founders, sees magazine assets as hot investment turf, driven by growth through online expansion, according to managing director Bret Pearlman.
Despite a bullish view toward magazines, Elevation has skipped the auction for Dennis Publishing Inc., publisher of "Maxim" magazine, Pearlman said.
Pearlman would not comment on the auction for part of magazine publisher Primedia, though he said the media's reporting on bidders appears to be fair. Elevation has been named as a bidder.
Elevation invested roughly $200 million (101 million pounds) in Forbes magazine last year, and is involved with its push toward increasing its online content. The firm has also invested in a real estate Web site and a video game maker.
"We're more interested on the magazine side," Pearlman said, about the firm's current focus, speaking at the Reuters Hedge Funds and Private Equity Summit here on Tuesday.
Regarding Forbes, Pearlman said "You will see a revolutionary, user-generated content application" on Forbes' Web site in the near-term. He disputed a recent article that there was tension between Elevation and a top Forbes executive.
"Honestly, we are collectively so shocked. It is truly an extremely harmonious relationship," he said. "We are six to eight months into a transaction that we're extremely enthused to be partners with the Forbes family."
Elevation was founded by Pearlman, a Blackstone Group veteran; Fred Anderson, the former CFO of Apple Computer; Marc Bodnick and Roger McNamee, founding members of Silver Lake; and rock star Bono. The Menlo Park, California-based firm raised a $1.9 billion private equity fund in 2005 that focuses on media and entertainment investments. The firm, which gets its name from a U2 song, has invested in video game maker BioWare / Pandemic Studios, Forbes, and real estate Web site Move Inc.
FORBES, FACEBOOK
Regarding several magazine bids that failed last year, Pearlman said that a high asking price and limited online presence were among the factors that deterred investors.
Elevation is not bidding for Dennis Publishing, he said, which put itself up for sale earlier this year.
"I think our perspective was that that particular asset has seen some recent significant pressure on its core profitability and in that instance they had actually done a decent job in terms of exploiting its online opportunities," he said.
"We are looking for situations where there are obvious or relatively straightforward ways to improve online profitability with a somewhat stable core print business, and in this situation was somewhat the opposite -- troubled print business and relatively well executed online strategy," he added.
Pearlman would not comment on Primedia, but his statements appeared to affirm that Elevation is interested. Primedia Inc. said in February that its board authorised the company to explore the sale of its Enthusiast Media segment.
Elevation was brought in by Forbes to invest and advise on its online expansion, Pearlman said, adding that the business news publisher plans to focus on video generated content.
Pearlman also said he is bullish about Facebook's business prospects, as several Elevation partners are investors in the social networking Web site.
"They've made it very user-friendly," he said. "It is a dot com that, if they really decide to go on their own, I think in couple years time it could be a really exciting IPO story."
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/rtrs/20070410/tbs-uk-funds-summit-elevation-03c9bed.html
