Reworld Media #4

Presentation of the company

Founded in 2012, REWORLD MEDIA is an international multi-channel media group generating relationships between consumers and brands through an innovative editorial process. The company, managed by Pascal Chevalier and Gautier Normand, employs 500 people and is based in Boulogne Billancoourt. The group operates in Europe (France, Spain, England, Belgium and Italy) as well as in Asia. The group has experienced strong growth with various acquisitions of companies (E Mailing Networking in 2012 in Spain, 30% of Tradedoubler in Sweden and more recently Sporever) and well-known titles.

The group owns nearly fifteen media brands in the worlds of :

• Fashion & beauty: Marie France, Be, Vie Pratique Féminin
• The kitchen: Gourmand, Papilles
• Lifestyle : Le Journal de la Maison, Maison & Travaux
• Entertainment: Auto Moto, TELEmagazine, Pariscope, etc.
• Sport: Rugby 365, Mercato 365, Foot 365 ..

It develops these brands through the association of their historical supports with digital website supports, newsletters, mobile applications, social networks and non-media (e-commerce, events, etc.). With more than 60 million monthly points of contact with their various communities (readership, VU sites, subscribers to newsletters, downloads of apps. mobile, fans on social networks, etc.), Reworld Media offers media devices and "Brand content" operations with high added value for advertisers. Tradedoubler, listed in Stockholm, is one of the international leaders in digital performance marketing: more than 75% of e-commerce consumers in Europe, a network of 180,000 publishers (site where the ad is visible) and more than 2,000 advertiser-customers.

The company is present in 69 countries and has nearly 400 employees. Historically, Tradedoubler is an affiliate technology platform that consists of lead generation and sales for e-commerce, travel, finance, etc. websites. This profitable activity covered 14% of the digital marketing market. At the end of 2014, the company’s management initiated a change in the business model by developing a multi-criteria comparative marketing measurement tool (whereas competition is based on comparative products criterion by criterion). This new business corresponds to a real need for advertisers who have to cope with the multiplication of digital channels and the difficulty of monitoring and attributing the performance of each of these media (tracking toolbox for advertisers). |

Project description

The group wishes to borrow 2,025,000 euros over 60 months, to accentuate its competitive advantage. The financing took place in two stages with a first draw of 2,037,000 euros in February 2018.

The group has invested a lot since its creation in audiovisual production and is currently a reference in the production of video formats dedicated to the Web with more than 15 million visits and more than 120 million page views per month.

The group has historically been formed by successful external growth operations. It intends to pursue this external growth policy.

As a reminder, the Lendix lending community accompanied Reworld Media for 1,000,000 euros to partially finance the acquisition of Tradedoubler, 3,000,000 euros to finance investments in its audiovisual production tools and maintain its technological advantage then 2,037,000 euros to enhance its competitive advantage.

This is a flexible bridge loan, offering the borrower the possibility to prepay without fees beyond the first 9 months.

Like all projects presented to private lenders on Lendix, it is co-financed with institutional investors, sophisticated investors and the management of Lendix, subscribers to the Lendix Fund.

Analyst’s Opinion

Our borrower is the leading holding company whose income comes from dividends paid by its operating subsidiaries. The financial analysis was performed on the basis of the new consolidated financial statements, which reflect the Group’s financial performance.

With a consolidated turnover of € 174,101,000 in 2016 and an experienced team, the company has an excellent performance record in terms of activity combined with an acceptable operating profitability in steady growth.

Over 2016, the increase in turnover and the exceptional loss are directly linked to the integration of Tradedoubler and the restructuring costs incurred. The group recently published its 2017 financial statements, which show a marked increase in activity and profitability.

The forecast was drawn up on the basis of budget 2018 performance.

taking into account current and projected debt maturities.

The borrower has an excellent repayment capacity with a Fixed Charge Cover Ratio* (FCCR) of 2.05 and an excellent financial structure with a net debt to EBITDA ratio of 1.3 and net debt to equity ratio of 57.0%.

Equity has been restated for convertible bonds.

The analysis of the project and the borrower leads to an A+ rating with excellent financial solidity and a rate of 3.45% per year.

Highlights 

• Excellent financial structure of the Reworld Media Group with a surplus cash position
• Highly reputed and profitable publications with the fastest growth rate of the digital part of the sector.
• Excellent repayment capacity with a FCCR of 2.05

Vigilance Point

• Risk of integration with a sustained acquisition policy 

*The multiple of FCCR at 2.05 means that the company has a safety margin of 105% relative to its ability to repay its credit maturities.

The expert opinion is given as an indication on the basis of the elements provided by the project holder and information from our databases (Scores & Decisions, Corporate Banking File). This opinion is only an element of reflection in the decision making of a lender to participate in the financing of a project.