Last close As at 05/08/2026
—
— 0.00 (0.00%)
Market capitalisation
—
Research: TMT
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has ruled that Ebiquity’s (EBQ) proposed divestment of its AdIntel business to Nielsen raises competition issues within the UK market. Ebiquity and Nielsen have been invited to propose solutions to counter the concerns raised by the CMA, otherwise it will go ahead with a more in-depth (phase 2) investigation.
Written by
Ebiquity |
AdIntel disposal faces additional scrutiny |
Disposal and trading update |
Media |
14 June 2018 |
Share price performance
Business description
Analysts
Ebiquity is a research client of Edison Investment Research Limited |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has ruled that Ebiquity’s (EBQ) proposed divestment of its AdIntel business to Nielsen raises competition issues within the UK market. Ebiquity and Nielsen have been invited to propose solutions to counter the concerns raised by the CMA, otherwise it will go ahead with a more in-depth (phase 2) investigation.
Year end |
Revenue (£m) |
EBIT* |
PBT* |
EPS* |
DPS |
P/E |
Yield |
12/16 |
83.6 |
13.0 |
11.8 |
11.3 |
0.65 |
5.7 |
1.0 |
12/17 |
87.4 |
12.0 |
11.0 |
9.4 |
0.71 |
6.9 |
1.1 |
12/18e |
91.2 |
11.3 |
10.2 |
8.9 |
0.78 |
7.2 |
1.2 |
12/19e |
96.5 |
12.1 |
11.2 |
9.7 |
0.84 |
6.6 |
1.3 |
Note: *PBT and EPS are normalised, excluding amortisation of acquired intangibles, exceptional items and share-based payments.
In February, EBQ announced the proposed disposal of its AdIntel business to Nielsen, for £26m, subject to CMA approval. The CMA has reported its initial findings on the sale and has found that given ‘the companies are each other’s closest competitor in the supply of intelligence on international advertising to UK customers … this merger may be expected to result in a substantial lessening of competition within a market or markets in the United Kingdom’.
Both companies have been invited to propose acceptable undertakings to offer a solution to the CMA’s competition concerns by 20 June, otherwise the deal will be referred for a more in-depth Phase 2 investigation.
The proposed disposal of AdIntel will allow EBQ to focus its resource on the areas of its business with greatest potential for growth and higher margins, in line with the group’s Growth Acceleration Plan (see our September 2017 Outlook note). The sale proceeds would reduce the pro forma net debt/EBITDA ratio from 2.1x to 1.0x as at end December 2017, strengthening the balance sheet and facilitating additional investment in enhancing the group’s tech-enabled consultancy offering.
Our published forecasts include the AdIntel business on a continuing basis, although in our recent report, Improving growth profile, we also show pro forma forecasts.
|
Disclaimer
|
|
Disclaimer
|
discoverIE reported strong FY18 results: organic growth of 6% was boosted by acquisitions and currency to generate reported revenue growth of 14.7% and normalised EPS growth of 15.8%. The company is making good progress in its strategy to grow the Design & Manufacturing (D&M) business through a combination of organic growth and recent acquisitions. We expect further accretive acquisitions to move the company towards its target of generating 75% of revenues from the D&M business, and view progress towards this target as the key driver of share price performance.