Lyceum buys Farmers Guardian

Kester Capital has made a 3.4x return from the sale of Briefing Media after three years of ownership.

Lyceum Capital, a UK-based private equity firm, has bolstered its latest fund’s media holdings with the purchase of Briefing Media Group, whose titles include Farmers Guardian.

The company was acquired from fellow mid-market firm Kester Capital, which said in a statement it achieved a 3.4x money multiple and a 56 percent internal rate of return on the sale. Kester purchased the company from UBM in 2012, after which it made two add-on acquisitions.

The new investment from Lyceum will provide Briefing Media’s management team with the necessary firepower to continue to build its portfolio with targeted acquisitions in what is a fragmented agriculture information sector, according to a statement.

The investment was made from Lyceum’s third fund, which closed on £330m in 2013.