Trade exhibition organiser ITE Group PLC (LON:ITE) has agreed to buy mining investment conference business, Mining Indaba, from Euromoney Institutional Investor PLC (LON:ERM) for £30.1mln.
Mining Indaba’s annual event, Investing in African Mining Indaba, is the world's largest mining investment conference and is focused on the capitalisation and development of mining in Africa.
The event, which will run for its 25th year in 2019 in Cape Town, is attended by more than 2,000 companies each year.
Euromoney says business no longer aligns with strategy
Euromoney, which is 49.04% owned by Daily Mail & General Trust Plc (LON:DMGT), said the disposal is part of a restructuring to offload assets that do not fully align with its strategy.
"Mining Indaba performed well this year and this disposal is another example of Euromoney's strategy in action: where a good business does not align with our strategy, we will sell it and recycle capital towards our main investment themes including price discovery, asset management and telecoms,” said chief executive Andrew Rashbass.
In the year to 28 February 2018, Mining Indaba generated sales of £7.2mln and earnings (EBITDA) of £3.7mln.
READ: ITE Group shares up as it says performance is in line with expectations
The sale, which is on cash-free, debt-free basis, is expected to complete in late October.
For ITE the acquisition will complement its Africa Oil Week exhibition, an energy industry event in Cape Town.
The company said the deal is in line with its strategy to create the "world's leading portfolio of content-driven, must-attend events delivering an outstanding experience and return on investment for their customers."
"We believe the acquisition will deliver value for our shareholders and consolidate our position as an organiser of must-attend international industry events," said chief executive Mark Shashoua.
ITE expects annual revenue growth
Separately, ITE said in a trading update for the year to 30 September 2018 that it expects like-for-like revenue to rise 10% as its focus on core markets paid off.
The firm predicts total revenue for the year of about £175mln, up from £153mln last year.
However, the group warned of the impact of adverse currency movements in the Russian ruble, Brazilian real and Turkish lira in the next financial year.
ITE's decision to focus on core market-leading events is part of a three-year turnaround strategy announced last year after unrest in Turkey and the end of high-value banknotes in India affected some planned events.
The company moved into Africa in 2015 after being hurt by a weakening Russian ruble and political turmoil in Ukraine.
Shares in ITE fell 3.06% to 72.9p.