M&A Deal Summary

ABRY Partners, Goldman Sachs Merchant Banking, Cambridge Information Group and Atairos Acquire ProQuest

On February 12, 2007, private equity firm ABRY Partners, private equity firm Goldman Sachs Merchant Banking, private equity firm Cambridge Information Group and growth capital firm Atairos acquired information services company ProQuest for 222M USD

Acquisition Highlights
  • This is ABRY Partners’ 3rd, Goldman Sachs Merchant Banking’s 1st, Cambridge Information Group’s 1st and Atairos’ 1st transaction in the Information Services sector.
  • This is ABRY Partners’ 9th, Goldman Sachs Merchant Banking’s 43rd, Cambridge Information Group’s and Atairos’ 2nd largest (disclosed) transaction.
  • This is ABRY Partners’ 37th, Goldman Sachs Merchant Banking’s 26th, Cambridge Information Group’s 2nd and Atairos’ 1st transaction in the United States.
  • This is ABRY Partners’ 1st, Goldman Sachs Merchant Banking’s 2nd, Cambridge Information Group’s 1st and Atairos’ 1st transaction in Michigan.
Investment Fate
  • ProQuest was sold to a publicly-traded strategic buyer in 2021 for 5.3B USD.

M&A Deal Summary

Date 2007-02-12
Target ProQuest
Sector Information Services
Buyer(s) ABRY Partners
Goldman Sachs Merchant Banking
Cambridge Information Group
Atairos
Deal Type Buyout (LBO, MBO, MBI)
Deal Value 222M USD

Target

ProQuest

Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States
ProQuest's corporate headquarters in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
ProQuest's corporate headquarters in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
ProQuest is an information content and services company. ProQuest technologies serve users across the critical points in research, helping them discover, access, share, create and manage information. ProQuest was formed in 1938 and is based in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

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Buyer(S) 4

Buyer

ABRY Partners

Boston, Massachusetts, United States

Investor Investor Investor Investor Investor


Category Private Equity Firm
Founded 1989
PE ASSETS 12.8B USD
Size Mega
Type Sector Focused
DESCRIPTION

ABRY Partners is a media and communications focused private equity investment firm. Specific areas of interest include television, publishing, convention/trade shows, for-profit training, couponing, monitoring services, telephone companies, communications towers, music libraries, database providers, wireless communications, and in-store advertisers. ABRY can provide both equity and mezzanine capital, typically committing $20 to $200 million of equity or $15 to $50 million of mezzanine capital per transaction. Prospective transaction situations include buyouts, expansion financings, platform acquisitions, consolidations, and recapitalizations. ABRY Partners was formed in 1989 and is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts.


DEAL STATS #
Overall 39 of 171
Sector (Information Services) 3 of 5
Type (Buyout (LBO, MBO, MBI)) 26 of 44
State (Michigan) 1 of 3
Country (United States) 37 of 145
Year (2007) 3 of 10
Size (of disclosed) 9 of 14
PREVIOUS DEAL
DATE TARGET DEAL TYPE VALUE
2007-02-01 Penton Media

New York, New York, United States

Penton Media, Inc. is an information services and marketing company. Penton’s products inform with rich industry insights and workflow tools; engage through dynamic events, education and networking; and advance business with powerful marketing services programs.

Sell -
FOLLOWING DEAL
DATE TARGET DEAL TYPE VALUE
2007-04-23 KnowledgePoint360 Group

Lyndhurst, New Jersey, United States

KnowledgePoint360 Group is a global leader in medical communications, serving healthcare professionals and the pharmaceuticals and biotech industries. We’re proud of our heritage of excellence dating back to 1972 – and we’re even prouder of the passion and value we bring to our work today.

Buy -
Buyer

Goldman Sachs Merchant Banking

New York, New York, United States

Category Private Equity Firm
Founded 1986
PE ASSETS 155.0B USD
Size Mega
Type Sector Agnostic
DESCRIPTION

Goldman Sachs Merchant Banking Division is the investment arm of Goldman Sachs. The primary corporate investment group within the Merchant Banking Division is Goldman Sachs' direct investment arm. GS's direct investment arm consists of GS Capital Partners, GS Mezzanine Partners, and GS Growth Partners. GS Capital Partners is the direct corporate equity investment group which seeks LBO, recapitalization, and growth investments to help fund acquisitions, expansions, recapitalizations, restructurings, buyouts, and take privates. GS Capital Partners looks to invest between $50 and $800 million in opportunities in North/South America, Europe, Asia. GS Mezzanine Partners is the junior capital arm of Goldman Sachs. GS Mezzanine looks to invest between $200 million and and $800 million in transactions valued up to $10 billion. Investment proceeds are used to fund leveraged buyouts, expansion financings, recapitalizations, acquisitions, and restructurings. GS Growth looks to invest in growth equity transactions. The unit seeks to commit $20 to $200 million per investment. Other units within GS's merchant banking division include Real Estate, Infrastructure, and Urban Investments. Goldman Sachs Merchant Banking Division is based in New York City.


DEAL STATS #
Overall 38 of 182
Sector (Information Services) 1 of 2
Type (Buyout (LBO, MBO, MBI)) 13 of 33
State (Michigan) 2 of 7
Country (United States) 26 of 126
Year (2007) 4 of 21
Size (of disclosed) 43 of 52
PREVIOUS DEAL
DATE TARGET DEAL TYPE VALUE
2007-01-26 Aramark

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States

Aramark is a professional services, providing food services, facilities management, and uniform and career apparel to healthcare institutions, universities and school districts, stadiums and arenas, businesses and government departments and agencies. Aramark was incorporated in 1959 and is headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Buy $8.3B
FOLLOWING DEAL
DATE TARGET DEAL TYPE VALUE
2007-03-01 American Reprographics

Walnut Creek, California, United States

American Reprographics Company (Fund IV) is the largest reprographics company in the U.S., providing document management services to the architectural, engineering and construction industries and to other industries that require sophisticated document management services. ARC operates 177 reprographics service centers in the United States and Canada. The company's common stock is publicly-traded under the symbol 'ARP.' The company is headquartered in Walnut Creek, California.

Buy -
DESCRIPTION

Cambridge Information Group, Inc. is a family owned global investment firm with a focus on companies in the information services, education and technology sectors. Cambridge Information Group pursues a variety of transaction types, including management buyouts, growth financings, and recapitalizations. Cambridge Information Group was formed in 1971 and is based in New York City.


DEAL STATS #
Overall 2 of 3
Sector (Information Services) 1 of 1
Type (Buyout (LBO, MBO, MBI)) 2 of 2
State (Michigan) 1 of 1
Country (United States) 2 of 2
Year (2007) 1 of 1
Size (of disclosed) 1 of 1
PREVIOUS DEAL
DATE TARGET DEAL TYPE VALUE
2001-08-31 R.R. Bowker

New Providence, New Jersey, United States

R.R. Bowker LLC is a provider of bibliographic information management solutions to publishers, booksellers, and libraries.

Buy -
FOLLOWING DEAL
DATE TARGET DEAL TYPE VALUE
2013-06-11 Navtech

Waterloo, Ontario, Canada

Navtech, Inc. is a provider of flight operations products (including electronic flight bag solutions, aeronautical charts and flight-planning services) to 400 aircraft operators.

Buy -
Buyer

Atairos

Investor Investor Investor Investor Investor


Category Growth Capital Firm
Founded 2016
PE ASSETS 6.0B USD
Size Large
Type Sector Agnostic
DESCRIPTION

Atairos is a generalist private equity firm focused on partnering with growth-oriented businesses. Atairos does not have any sector preferences and will consider opportunities across the US. Atairos was formed in 2016 and has offices in New York City and Philadelphia.


DEAL STATS #
Overall 1 of 13
Sector (Information Services) 1 of 2
Type (Buyout (LBO, MBO, MBI)) 1 of 1
State (Michigan) 1 of 1
Country (United States) 1 of 9
Year (2007) 1 of 1
Size (of disclosed) 2 of 2
FOLLOWING DEAL
DATE TARGET DEAL TYPE VALUE
2016-04-04 Groupon

Chicago, Illinois, United States

Groupon is a social eCommerce site. Groupon leverages social media and collective buying power to feature daily deals in more than 500 markets around the world. Groupon was formed in 2008 and is based in Chicago, Illinois.

Buy -