The new capital structure, agreed between Alchemy and other minority lenders, will involve a debt for equity swap which will help cut the business’s debt pile and allow it to focus on growth.
The move will leave Incisive Media with a “significantly strengthened balance sheet with much reduced net debt”, it said.
Previous private equity backer Apax paid £208m for Incisive in 2006, but later control of the business transferred to its lenders including Royal Bank of Scotland.
As part of the refinancing, Incisive Media has also made a number of changes to its board of directors. Dame Helen Alexander and Brian Larcombe have stepped down with from their respective roles as non-executive chairman and non-executive director.
David Gilbertson – who has previously been the chief executive at Informa and EMAP – will join the board as a non-executive director, in addition to Ian Cash, Toby Westcott and Paul Bridges from Alchemy.
Commenting on the refinancing, Incisive Media executive chairman and chief executive Tim Weller (pictured) said: “This is great news for the ongoing development of our company.
“The strong financial platform and supportive majority shareholder in the form of Alchemy will give us the ability to invest in the business, both in our people and our brands. We have made considerable progress in digital, subscriptions and events over the last few years and look forward to being able to accelerate this by investing in the business to stimulate further growth and by taking advantage of the many opportunities that lie ahead.
“Our markets are showing encouraging signs of recovery which, with the combination of a robust balance sheet and the steps we have taken to position each of our businesses, allows us to look to the future with real confidence.”
Alchemy partner Ian Cash added: “We are admirers of Incisive Media’s leading brand positions and the entrepreneurial management team headed by Tim Weller.
“We are delighted to have led the restructuring and look forward to continuing to support the transformation and growth of the business as the majority shareholder.”
