Penton announces refinancing of its existing debt with a new $715 million credit facility

NEW YORK, Nov. 4, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --

Receives ratings upgrades from both Standard & Poor's and Moody's

• Refinanced capital structure with a $50 million revolving credit facility due in 2018, $460 million first lien term loan due in 2019 and $205 million second lien term loan due in 2020
• Penton's corporate rating was upgraded by Standard & Poor's to B and by Moody's to B3
• The refinancing gives Penton a long-term capital structure with significant flexibility to continue to pursue its strategic plan and acquisitions

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Penton continues its strategic transformation to a focused professional information services company

• 2013E revenues of $370 million, with rapid growth in high margin events and digital/data businesses projected to expand total 2013E EBITDA margins to 34%
• EBITDA has doubled since 2010 to approximately $128 million
• At $200 million in revenue, digital and events businesses represent the majority of Penton revenues and ~75% of 2013E EBITDA
• Event revenue is now $100 million and growing at two times the industry average, due to dominant scaled shows in strong underlying markets
• Digital revenue is now $100 million and is fast growing and diverse, with more than 40% of digital revenue comprised of user-paid products or marketing services
• Under its new strategic plan, Penton is launching a full slate of new digital and data products in the fourth quarter to fuel 2014 growth; eight new products will hit the market by year end
• Within the last year, Penton has completed the strategic acquisitions of Farm Progress Corporation and McGraw Hill Financial's Aviation assets
• Penton is now focused on five core, scaled growth sectors, each with over $50 million in revenues

David Kieselstein, Penton's Chief Executive Officer commented:
"Our refinancing is a testament both to Penton's proven and consistent ability to generate outstanding operating results as well as our clearly identified growth opportunities ahead. We are pleased to extend our capital structure on attractive terms.  This positions us to fully execute on our long-term strategy and create a strong platform for the future through organic growth and strategic acquisitions."

"We have transformed into a professional information services company.  A critical part of this evolution is our innovative new product launches.  Some of the launches for the fourth quarter include the Govalytics SaaS sales targeting data product, the breakthrough NEXT Trend and NEXT Accelerator natural products data and insights workflow tools, and the EquipmentWatch Real Time Pricing API.  We expect to expand our topline growth in data, digital and events business lines with these new product introductions."

"Additionally, we are benefiting significantly from our decision to focus only on growth oriented industry sectors.  We completed the key strategic acquisitions over the past year of Farm Progress and McGraw Hill Financial's Aviation assets, which have enabled us to complete our goal of creating dominant leadership positions in each of our five industry sectors, which include agriculture, transportation, natural products/food, infrastructure, and industrial design/manufacturing.  This approach has enabled us to drive EBITDA margins up to 34%, a nearly 700 basis point improvement over the past few years.   With attractive long-term financing in place, we are in a real position of strength as we focus on both top and bottom line expansion."   

About Penton
For millions of business owners and decision-makers, Penton makes the difference every day. We engage our professional users by providing actionable ideas and insights, data and workflow tools, community and networking, both in person and virtually, all with deep relevance to their specific industries. We then activate this engagement by connecting users with tens of thousands of targeted providers of products and services to help drive business growth. Learn more about our company at www.penton.com.

Penton is a privately held company owned by MidOcean Partners and U.S. Equity Partners II, an investment fund sponsored by Wasserstein & Co., LP.

CONTACTS:
Kate Spellman
SVP, Marketing
Penton
Phone: (212) 204-4351
Email: [email protected]

SOURCE Penton