Reed Elsevier Ventures-backed electronic components information source and supplier Partminer has sold its database and software business, Computer Assisted Product Selection, to one of its original corporate venturing backers, IHS, an information company, for an undisclosed sum. Reed Elsevier Ventures said the deal demonstrates the ability of corporate venturing groups to rescue value.
Information Handling Services said it had acquired three businesses, the Partminer software business, as well as the digital oil and gas information business of Hild Technology Services, and Displaybank, a global authority in market research and consulting for the display industry, for $45m.
Tony Askew, general partner of Reed Elsevier Ventures, said: "This Investment was made by Reed Business In the US in 1999 before Reed Elsevier Ventures existed. It was transferred to me to manage in 2008 as it was proving a big distraction to manage in RBI. I think this demonstrates really well the value of having a team of investment specialists in a corporately backed venture fund. I could give it the time and the focus it needed."
Askew added: "This is one of three investments that we have taken over from elsewhere in The Reed Elsevier group and managed to a successful exit, the first was Business.com, sold to RH Donnelly for $350m (note another well known media and information company took a big write down because they exited the stock too early when it was not worth much). The most recent was Logistics Health, transferred to me after the ChoicePoint acquisition and eventually sold to United Healthcare last year. IHS have bought a great asset. Overall a useful datapoint of how a corporately backed venture firm can work with its host organisation to maximise the value of shareholder assets."
Other investors in the company include Boston Ventures, Seacoast Capital Corporation and Vulcan Securities, according to Reed Elsevier Ventures’ website.
Partminer withdrew from an attempt to go public in March 2001. Shareholders at the time of the planned flotation were Vulcan Securities (then holding 17.7%), Boston Ventures (13.6%), Seacoast Capital Partners (12%), Information Handling Services (11.8%) and Cahners Information, now called Reed Business Information, part of Reed Elsevier (11.6%).
Information Handling Services veteran Christopher Meyer is Partminer’s chairman, and its former chief executive.