Clarivate compra ProQuest

[Boletin SciELO-Mexico]

Publicado en ProQuest

https://about.proquest.com/en/news/2021/clarivate-to-acquire-proquest/

Clarivate adquiere ProQuest

Creación de un proveedor líder mundial de información de misión crítica y soluciones basadas en datos para la ciencia y la investigación

Creación de un proveedor principal de inteligencia de investigación de extremo a extremo

La combinación abre una puerta a una de las mayores fuentes de información del mundo que sirve a los profesionales de la educación, la ciencia y la propiedad intelectual en todo el mundo

La adquisición aporta a Clarivate más de 875 millones de dólares en ingresos y más de 350 millones de dólares de EBITDA ajustado tras las sinergias de costes

Incremento de los beneficios diluidos ajustados en 2022 con importantes sinergias de ingresos y costes. Clarivate reafirma las perspectivas financieras independientes para 2021

Clarivate organizará una conferencia telefónica hoy a las 8:00 AM ET para discutir la transacción

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Londres, Reino Unido, 17 de mayo de 2021 - Clarivate plc (NYSE: CLVT), líder mundial en el suministro de información y conocimientos fiables para acelerar el ritmo de la innovación, ha anunciado hoy un acuerdo definitivo para adquirir ProQuest, proveedor líder mundial de software, datos y análisis para instituciones académicas, de investigación y nacionales, de Cambridge Information Group, una empresa de inversión familiar, y otros socios, incluyendo Atairos, por 5.300 millones de dólares, incluyendo la refinanciación de la deuda de ProQuest. La contraprestación por la adquisición es de aproximadamente 4.000 millones de dólares en efectivo y 1.300 millones de dólares en acciones. Se espera que la transacción, que está sujeta a las condiciones habituales de cierre, incluyendo las aprobaciones regulatorias, se cierre durante el tercer trimestre de 2021.

Con la misión de acelerar y mejorar la educación, la investigación y la innovación, ProQuest ofrece soluciones de contenido y tecnología a más de 25.000 organizaciones académicas, corporativas y de investigación en más de 150 países. La adquisición establecerá a Clarivate como un proveedor principal de soluciones de inteligencia de investigación de extremo a extremo y ampliará significativamente sus ofertas de contenido y datos, ya que la adición de ProQuest complementará materialmente la Clarivate Research Intelligence Cloud™.

Al unir estos dos negocios centrados en el cliente con el propósito de acelerar la innovación en su núcleo, crearemos un proveedor de software e información líder en el mundo para que las organizaciones centradas en la investigación impulsen el descubrimiento científico y la innovación en el futuro".

Jerre Stead, Presidente Ejecutivo y Director General de Clarivate, dijo: "Clarivate y ProQuest son negocios altamente complementarios, cada uno con una rica e histórica herencia. Compartimos el objetivo de acelerar la innovación a través de la investigación y el intercambio de conocimientos, y juntos permitiremos a nuestros clientes resolver los retos más complejos del mundo con contenidos que se remontan a siglos atrás, y tecnologías que responden a las necesidades de los clientes del siglo XXI."

Andrew Snyder, Presidente de ProQuest y Director General de Cambridge Information Group, dijo: "He visto evolucionar a ProQuest para satisfacer las necesidades siempre cambiantes de nuestros clientes durante las últimas décadas y comprendo perfectamente que los retos y oportunidades a los que se enfrentan nunca han sido mayores. Estoy seguro de que la empresa seguirá contando con los recursos necesarios para mantener la impresionante trayectoria de innovación con la que cuentan nuestros clientes, para crear una organización líder mundial en investigación e innovación."

Una vez completada la transacción, dos miembros del Consejo de ProQuest se unirán al Consejo de Clarivate, incluyendo a Andy Snyder, que tendrá el cargo de Vicepresidente del Consejo de Clarivate, y a Michael Angelakis, Presidente y CEO de Atairos.

Beneficios estratégicos convincentes para impulsar el crecimiento futuro

    Crea un proveedor de software y contenidos de información líder en el mundo para el mundo académico, los gobiernos, las bibliotecas públicas y las empresas: La agregación de contenidos, junto con las soluciones de software para conectar y filtrar información dispar, es fundamental en el mundo actual de sobrecarga de información. La combinación de estas dos organizaciones de referencia proporcionará una puerta de acceso a la mayor colección del mundo de contenidos interoperables y curados por expertos, incluyendo contenidos de revistas, fuentes primarias, disertaciones, noticias, vídeos en streaming y más, en múltiples disciplinas académicas. Clarivate seguirá ampliando su software líder en el mercado para mejorar sus capacidades de descubrimiento, intercambio y gestión.

    Abre nuevas oportunidades de venta para impulsar el crecimiento en los mercados existentes y complementarios: El software empresarial es el segmento de mercado de las bibliotecas que más crece y tiene una alta fidelidad de los clientes debido a los flujos de trabajo integrados en las operaciones centrales de las bibliotecas. Esta adquisición proporcionará a Clarivate acceso a mercados complementarios y usuarios variados, incluyendo bibliotecas públicas, bibliotecas de investigación, distritos escolares y colegios comunitarios, con la oportunidad de ofrecer nuevas plataformas en todo el campus para proporcionar una fuente unificada de descubrimiento de conocimiento.

    Amplía nuestra oferta analítica: La incorporación de ProQuest hace que las capacidades analíticas académicas de Clarivate vayan más allá de su ámbito tradicional de datos de publicación de revistas y de citas, y que abarquen una gama mucho más amplia de fuentes de información. La combinación mejorada de la nube de datos de ProQuest con los miles de millones de puntos de datos armonizados de Clarivate Research Intelligence Cloud ofrecerá oportunidades de análisis predictivo y prescriptivo a largo plazo.

Transacción financieramente convincente

    Incremento de los beneficios por acción de Clarivate: Se espera que la transacción incremente en dos dígitos las ganancias de Clarivate en 2022 y que se incremente a mediados de la década en 2023.

    Adquisición que aumenta el valor con importantes oportunidades para acelerar el crecimiento, crear eficiencias y mejorar los márgenes: Para 2020, ProQuest generó 876 millones de dólares de ingresos, un 4% por crecimiento orgánico, y 250 millones de dólares de EBITDA ajustado. Se espera que la adquisición proporcione importantes sinergias de costes, lo que, además de las sinergias de ingresos, se espera que impulse el crecimiento del EBITDA ajustado de ProQuest y Clarivate y amplíe el margen de EBITDA ajustado de ProQuest.

    Importantes oportunidades de ahorro de costes e impuestos: Clarivate espera beneficiarse de más de 100 millones de dólares de sinergias de costes en toda la organización en los 15 - 18 meses posteriores al cierre de la transacción. Clarivate también espera beneficiarse de unos 65 millones de dólares de ahorro fiscal anual en efectivo gracias a la estructura de la transacción.

    Mayor generación de flujo de caja libre: Se espera que la adquisición genere un fuerte flujo de caja que permita a Clarivate reducir su deuda, seguir invirtiendo en el desarrollo de productos y buscar otras oportunidades de desarrollo empresarial.

Mukhtar Ahmed, Presidente de Ciencia de Clarivate, dijo: "Clarivate está construyendo una experiencia globalmente conectada y altamente personalizada para los investigadores, institutos académicos y financiadores en toda la cadena de valor de la investigación digital, desde la ideación hasta el resultado. Con esta adquisición podremos potenciar aún más a las generaciones actuales y futuras de investigadores académicos y corporativos en su camino hacia la innovación."

Matti Shem Tov, CEO de ProQuest, dijo: "A través de esta combinación, ProQuest podrá servir mejor a las necesidades cambiantes de nuestros clientes, proporcionándoles soluciones integrales más rápido de lo que podríamos por nuestra cuenta, así como ampliando nuestro alcance global más allá de nuestras capacidades actuales. Esperamos un futuro brillante y emocionante para ProQuest y nuestros clientes".

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Clarivate to Acquire ProQuest

Creating a Leading Global Provider of Mission Critical Information and Data-Driven Solutions for Science and Research

• Establishing a premier provider of end-to-end research intelligence
• Combination opens a gateway to one of the world’s largest information sources serving education, science and intellectual property professionals worldwide
• Acquisition brings more than $875 million in revenue and more than $350 million of Adjusted EBITDA after cost synergies to Clarivate
• Accretive to adjusted diluted earnings in 2022 with significant revenue and cost synergies. Clarivate reaffirms standalone 2021 financial outlook
• Clarivate to host conference call today at 8:00 AM ET to discuss transaction

London, UK, May 17, 2021 – Clarivate plc (NYSE: CLVT), a global leader in providing trusted information and insights to accelerate the pace of innovation, today announced a definitive agreement to acquire ProQuest, a leading global software, data and analytics provider to academic, research and national institutions, from Cambridge Information Group, a family-owned investment firm, and other partners including Atairos, for $5.3 billion, including refinancing of ProQuest debt. The consideration for the acquisition is approximately $4.0 billion in cash and $1.3 billion of equity. The transaction, which is subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals, is expected to close during the third quarter of 2021.

With a mission to accelerate and improve education, research and innovation, ProQuest delivers content and technology solutions to over 25,000 academic, corporate and research organizations in more than 150 countries. The acquisition will establish Clarivate as a premier provider of end-to-end research intelligence solutions and significantly expand its content and data offerings as the addition of ProQuest will materially complement the Clarivate Research Intelligence Cloud™.

By bringing together these two customer-focused businesses with a purpose to accelerate innovation at their core, we will create a world-leading software and information provider for research-focused organizations to fuel scientific discovery and innovation into the future.

Jerre Stead, Executive Chairman and CEO, Clarivate, said: “Clarivate and ProQuest are highly complementary businesses, each with a rich and storied heritage. We share the goal to accelerate innovation through research and knowledge sharing and together we will enable our customers to solve the world’s most complex challenges with content dating back centuries, and technologies that address the needs of 21st century customers.”

Andrew Snyder, Chairman of ProQuest and CEO of Cambridge Information Group, said: “I have seen ProQuest evolve to meet our customers’ ever-changing needs over the last several decades and fully understand that the challenges and opportunities they face have never been greater. I am confident that the company will continue to have the resources required to maintain the impressive track record of innovation that our customers count on – to create a world leading organization in research and innovation.”

Upon completion of the transaction, two members of the ProQuest Board will join the Clarivate Board, including Andy Snyder, who will have the position of Vice Chairman of the Clarivate Board, and Michael Angelakis, Chairman and CEO of Atairos.

Compelling strategic benefits to drive future growth

• Creates a world-leading software and content information provider for academia, governments, public libraries and corporations: Content aggregation, along with software solutions to connect and filter disparate information, is critical in today’s world of information overload. The combination of these two gold-standard organizations will provide a gateway to the world’s largest collection of interoperable, expertly curated content, including journal content, primary sources, dissertations, news, streaming video and more across multiple academic disciplines. Clarivate will continue to expand its market-leading software to enhance its discovery, sharing and management capabilities.
• Opens new sales opportunities to drive growth in existing and complementary markets: Enterprise software is the fastest growing library market segment and has high customer loyalty due to workflows integrated in core library operations. This acquisition will provide Clarivate with access to complementary markets and varied users, including public libraries, research libraries, school districts and community colleges, with the opportunity to deliver new campus-wide platforms to provide a unified source of knowledge discovery.
• Broadens our analytical offerings: The addition of ProQuest moves the academic analytical capabilities of Clarivate beyond its traditional realm of journal publication data and citations into a much wider range of information sources. There will be long-term predictive and prescriptive analytics opportunities from the enhanced combination of ProQuest's data cloud with the billions of harmonized data points in the Clarivate Research Intelligence Cloud.

Financially compelling transaction

• Accretive to Clarivate earnings per share: The transaction is expected to be double-digit accretive to Clarivate earnings in 2022 and mid-teens accretive in 2023.
• Value-enhancing acquisition with significant opportunities to accelerate growth, create efficiencies and enhance margins: For 2020, ProQuest generated $876 million of revenue, 4% from organic growth, and $250 million of Adjusted EBITDA. The acquisition is expected to provide significant cost synergies, which, in addition to revenue synergies, is expected to drive both ProQuest and Clarivate Adjusted EBITDA growth and expand ProQuest’s Adjusted EBITDA margin.
• Significant cost and tax savings opportunities: Clarivate expects to benefit from more than $100 million of cost synergies across the organization within the 15 - 18 months after the close of the transaction. Clarivate also expects to benefit from approximately $65 million in annual cash tax savings from the transaction structure.
• Enhanced free cash flow generation: The acquisition is expected to generate strong cash flow that will enable Clarivate to reduce its debt, continue investing in product development and pursue additional business development opportunities.

Mukhtar Ahmed, President, Science at Clarivate, said: “Clarivate is building a globally connected and highly personalized experience for researchers, academic institutes and funders across the entire digital research value-chain, from ideation through to outcome. With this acquisition we will be able to further empower both present and future generations of academic and corporate researchers as they each pursue their journey of innovation.”

Matti Shem Tov, CEO, ProQuest, said: “Through this combination, ProQuest will be enabled to better serve the evolving needs of our customers by providing end-to-end solutions to our customers faster than we could on our own as well as expanding our global reach beyond our current capabilities. We look forward to a bright and exciting future for ProQuest and our customers.”

Financing

In connection with the transaction, Clarivate has secured a backstop consisting of a $4 billion fully committed bridge facility from Citi and Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC. Clarivate intends to obtain long-term financing from debt and equity markets before the closing of the transaction.

Advisors

Evercore is serving as lead financial advisor and Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP is serving as legal advisor to Clarivate. Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC is serving as lead financial advisor to ProQuest with support from UBS Investment Bank and Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC. Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP is serving as legal advisor to ProQuest.

Clarivate reaffirming standalone 2021 outlook

For the year ending December 31, 2021, excluding the combination with ProQuest, Clarivate continues to expect:

• Adjusted Revenues in a range of $1.79 billion to $1.84 billion1
• Adjusted EBITDA in a range of $790 million to $825 million1
• Adjusted EBITDA margins in a range of 44% to 45%1
• Adjusted diluted EPS in a range of $0.74 to $0.791
• Adjusted Free Cash Flow in a range of $450 million to $500 million1

Clarivate will provide an updated 2021 outlook to include the acquisition of ProQuest after closing of the transaction, which is expected to occur in the third quarter of 2021.

1See Reconciliation to Certain Non-GAAP measures” presented below for important disclosure and reconciliations of these financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP measure. These terms are defined elsewhere in this press release.

Conference call details

Clarivate will host a conference call and webcast to discuss the strategic and operating aspects of the ProQuest combination on Monday, May 17th at 8:00 AM Eastern Time. The conference call will be simultaneously webcast on the Investor Relations section of the company’s website.

Interested parties may access the live audio broadcast by dialing 1-888-317-6003 in the United States, 1-412-317-6061 for international, and 1-866-284-3684 in Canada. The conference ID number is 5893138. An audio replay will be available approximately two hours after the completion of the call at 1-877-344-7529 in the United States, 1-412-317-0088 for international, and 1-855-669-9658 in Canada. The Replay Conference ID number is 10156753. The recording will be available for replay through May 31, 2021.

The webcast can be accessed at

and will be available for replay.

About Clarivate

Clarivate™ is a global leader in providing solutions to accelerate the lifecycle of innovation. Our bold mission is to help customers solve some of the world’s most complex problems by providing actionable information and insights that reduce the time from new ideas to life-changing inventions in the areas of science and intellectual property. We help customers discover, protect and commercialize their inventions using our trusted subscription and technology-based solutions coupled with deep domain expertise. For more information, please visit 

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About ProQuest

ProQuest supports critical work in the world’s research and learning communities. The company curates six centuries of content – the world’s largest collection of journals, eBooks, primary sources, dissertations, news, and video – and builds powerful workflow solutions to help libraries acquire and grow collections that inspire extraordinary outcomes. ProQuest products and solutions are used in academic, K-12, public, corporate and government libraries in 150 countries. ProQuest helps its customers achieve better research, better learning and better insights.

Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures

Non-GAAP results are not presentations made in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles ("GAAP"). Non-GAAP financial information is provided to enhance the reader’s understanding of our financial performance, but none of these non-GAAP financial measures are recognized terms under GAAP. They are not measures of financial condition or liquidity, and should not be considered as an alternative to profit or loss for the period determined in accordance with GAAP or operating cash flows determined in accordance with GAAP. As a result, you should not consider such measures in isolation from, or as a substitute for, financial measures or results of operations calculated or determined in accordance with GAAP.

We use non-GAAP measures in our operational and financial decision-making. We believe that such measures allow us to focus on what we deem to be a more reliable indicator of ongoing operating performance and our ability to generate cash flow from operations and we also believe that investors may find these non-GAAP financial measures useful for the same reasons. Non-GAAP measures are frequently used by securities analysts, investors, and other interested parties in their evaluation of companies comparable to us, many of which present non-GAAP measures when reporting their results. These measures can be useful in evaluating our performance against our peer companies because we believe the measures provide users with valuable insight into key components of GAAP financial disclosures. However, non-GAAP measures have limitations as analytical tools and because not all companies use identical calculations, our presentation of non-GAAP financial measures may not be comparable to other similarly titled measures of other companies.

Definitions and reconciliations of non-GAAP measures, such as Adjusted Revenues, Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA Margin, Adjusted Diluted EPS, Free Cash Flow, and Adjusted Free Cash Flow to the most directly comparable GAAP measures are provided within the schedules attached to this release. Our presentation of non-GAAP measures should not be construed as an inference that our future results will be unaffected by any of the adjusted items, or that any projections and estimates will be realized in their entirety or at all.

Forward-Looking Statements

This communication contains “forward-looking statements” as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements, which express management’s current views concerning future business, events, trends, contingencies, financial performance, or financial condition, appear at various places in this communication and may use words like “aim,” “anticipate,” “assume,” “believe,” “continue,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “forecast,” “future,” “goal,” “intend,” “likely,” “may,” “might,” “plan,” “potential,” “predict,” “project,” “see,” “seek,” “should,” “strategy,” “strive,” “target,” “will,” and “would” and similar expressions, and variations or negatives of these words. Examples of forward-looking statements include, among others, statements we make regarding: guidance outlook and predictions relating to expected operating results, such as revenue growth and earnings; strategic actions such as acquisitions, joint ventures, and dispositions, including the anticipated benefits therefrom, and our success in integrating acquired businesses; anticipated levels of capital expenditures in future periods; our ability to successfully realize cost savings initiatives and transition services expenses; our belief that we have sufficiently liquidity to fund our ongoing business operations; expectations of the effect on our financial condition of claims, litigation, environmental costs, the COVID-19 pandemic and governmental responses thereto, contingent liabilities, and governmental and regulatory investigations and proceedings; and our strategy for customer retention, growth, product development, market position, financial results, and reserves. Forward-looking statements are neither historical facts nor assurances of future performance. Instead, they are based only on management’s current beliefs, expectations, and assumptions regarding the future of our business, future plans and strategies, projections, anticipated events and trends, the economy, and other future conditions. Because forward-looking statements relate to the future, they are difficult to predict and many of which are outside of our control. Important factors that could cause our actual results and financial condition to differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements include those factors discussed under the caption “Risk Factors” in our most recent annual report on Form 10-K, as amended, along with our other filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). However, those factors should not be considered to be a complete statement of all potential risks and uncertainties. Additional risks and uncertainties not known to us or that we currently deem immaterial may also impair our business operations. Forward-looking statements are based only on information currently available to our management and speak only as of the date of this communication. We do not assume any obligation to publicly provide revisions or updates to any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise, should circumstances change, except as otherwise required by securities and other applicable laws. Please consult our public filings with the SEC or on our website at

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Estimado cliente,

Quiero compartir la noticia de que Clarivate ha firmado un acuerdo definitivo para adquirir ProQuest. Clarivate es un líder mundial en el suministro de información y conocimientos de confianza para acelerar el ritmo de la innovación. Puede leer el comunicado de prensa aquí.

Tenemos una larga tradición de trabajar con usted para abordar sus necesidades, desafíos y nuevas oportunidades a través de una gama de soluciones de software y contenido. Al unir las organizaciones, estamos bien posicionados para llevarlo al siguiente nivel.

Juntos, Clarivate y ProQuest forman una puerta de entrada a la mayor colección del mundo de contenido curado por expertos, con el apoyo de tecnologías que mejoran su gestión, descubrimiento y uso compartido. Sus usuarios, ya sean investigadores experimentados o estudiantes, tendrán una experiencia aún más completa, conectada y fluida mientras persiguen sus objetivos de investigación, enseñanza y aprendizaje. Con una pasión compartida por escuchar a nuestros clientes y una estructura que nos permite combinar fortalezas, Clarivate y ProQuest serán una fuente de continuas innovaciones que ayudarán a sus universidades, instituciones de investigación y bibliotecas a ser cada vez más valiosas.

Esperamos que esta transacción se cierre en el tercer trimestre. Hasta entonces, Clarivate y ProQuest operarán como negocios separados e independientes. De cara al futuro, nos comprometemos a seguir apoyándole a usted y a su misión como lo hacemos hoy, cumpliendo todos los contratos y compromisos existentes. Lo más importante es que seguiremos proporcionando la calidad excepcional, el servicio al cliente y el apoyo que usted espera de nosotros.

Esperamos ampliar nuestra asociación con ustedes y apoyar su éxito continuo. Le informaremos una vez que la transacción haya finalizado, pero sepa que si tiene alguna pregunta, su gestor de cuentas de ProQuest está disponible. Gracias por su negocio y su continua confianza en nosotros.

Sinceramente,

Matti Shem Tov

CEO de ProQuest 

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 Dear Valued Customer,

I want to share the news that Clarivate has signed a definitive agreement to acquire ProQuest. Clarivate is a global leader in providing trusted information and insights to accelerate the pace of innovation. You can read the press release here.

We have a long tradition of working with you to address your needs, challenges and new opportunities through a range of software and content solutions. By bringing the organizations together, we are well positioned to take it to the next level.

Together, Clarivate and ProQuest form a gateway to the world’s largest collection of expertly curated content – supported with technologies that enhance its management, discovery and sharing. Your users – whether they are seasoned researchers or students – will have an even more comprehensive, connected and seamless experience as they pursue their research, teaching and learning goals. With a shared passion for listening to our customers and a structure that enables us to combine strengths, Clarivate and ProQuest will be a source of continual innovations that help your universities, research institutions and libraries become ever more valuable.

We expect this transaction to close in the third quarter. Until then, Clarivate and ProQuest will operate as separate and independent businesses. Going forward, we are committed to continuing to support you and your mission as we do today, honoring all existing contracts and commitments. Most importantly, we will continue to provide the exceptional quality, client service and support that you expect from us.

We look forward to expanding our partnership with you as well as supporting your continued success. We will update you once the transaction is finalized, but know that if you have any questions, your ProQuest account manager is available. Thank you for your business and continued trust in us.

Sincerely,

Matti Shem Tov
ProQuest CEO