Centaur Media — Conditional sale of MiniMBA

Centaur Media (LSE: CAU)

Last close As at 24/06/2025

GBP0.33

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Market capitalisation

GBP50m

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Research: TMT

Centaur Media — Conditional sale of MiniMBA

Centuar Media has announced the conditional sale of its MiniMBA business to Brave Bison, for £19m (cash free, debt free). This follows on from the announcement in December of a strategic business review designed to maximise shareholder value, and MiniMBA is a key asset. The agreed price represents 1.7x FY24 revenue, and just under 7x operating profit. Centaur will now consult with its shareholders over the most efficient way to return the capital to them, following completion, which is expected in July. We will revisit our forecasts for the ongoing group on completion and following the interim figures, scheduled for 23 July.

Fiona Orford-Williams

Written by

Fiona Orford-Williams

Director, TMT

Media

25 June 2025

Price 33.00p
Market cap £45m

Net cash at 31 December 2024

£8.9m

Shares in issue

151.4m
Code CAU
Primary exchange LSE
Secondary exchange N/A
Price Performance

Business description

Centaur Media is an international provider of business intelligence, learning and specialist consultancy. Its Xeim and The Lawyer business units serve the marketing and legal sectors respectively and offer customers a wide range of products and services targeted at helping them add value.

Analyst

Fiona Orford-Williams
+44 (0)20 3077 5700

Centaur Media is a research client of Edison Investment Research Limited

Note: PBT and EPS are adjusted, excluding amortisation of acquired intangibles, exceptional items and share-based payments, and EPS are fully diluted. DPS excludes special dividend paid for FY23.

Year end Revenue (£m) PBT (£m) EPS (p) DPS (p) P/E (x) Yield (%)
12/23 37.3 7.6 4.16 1.80 7.9 5.5
12/24 35.1 3.9 1.90 1.80 17.3 5.5
12/25e 36.2 4.0 1.97 1.80 16.7 5.5
12/26e 39.0 5.2 2.55 1.80 12.9 5.5

The sale is subject to approval by Brave Bison’s shareholders on 14 July and will be part-funded by the proceeds of a placing and direct subscription, which was oversubscribed. MiniMBA represents a meaningful proportion of Centaur’s marketing industry-facing business, with the Learning & Development segment accounting for 41% of marketing sector revenues in FY24, and 31% of the total group. Stripping out the operating profit is complicated by the apportionment of shared overheads, but we anticipate that this is clarified on completion, at which point we will update our model.

Centaur had net cash of £8.9m at the year-end so, combined with the proceeds, cash should represent well over half of the group’s market capitalisation. This deal is a signifiant step in the realisation of value for shareholders.

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