DRF to be Sold

[classhandicapper]

Despite a slowdown in the credit markets, the Daily Racing Form sale is crossing the finish line, sources said.

Arlington Capital Partners, a Washington buyout shop, is acquiring the newspaper for just shy of $200 million, two knowledgeable persons said.
GE Antares Capital is providing the debt, according to sources.
New York private equity firm Wicks Group of Cos. LLC owns the Daily Racing Form, a 112-year-old national publication that focuses on thoroughbred horse racing.
Wicks had been seeking more than $200 million, several sources told The Deal. In June, the auction had been considered hot, with bids coming from several midsized private equity firms, including Quadrangle Group LLC and Falconhead Capital LLC.
The deal was very difficult to get done, one source said.
"Virtually every investment bank has shut down for new commitments," the person said.
Both Credit Suisse Group and GE Antares Capital were prepared to fund the buyers.
"It's a good asset, and a number of people wanted to buy it," the source said.
Calls to Wicks and Arlington Capital were not returned.
The Daily Racing Form has been the bible of horse players for more than a century. It has no real competition. It offers details on each of the more than 50 tracks in the U.S. and lists specifics about each horse in a race.
The newspaper has changed hands a few times. In 2004, Wicks paid about $60 million to $70 million for it. The sellers at that time were Alpine Equity Partners LP and racing journalist Steven Crist. They had bought it in 1998 from Primedia Inc.
In April, Wicks hired Credit Suisse to explore strategic alternatives.

[Good4Now]

BEST of everything!

[richrosa]

There is a slowdown in the credit-backed equity markets such as mortgages and other asset securitizations. I don't think there is a slowdown in the private equity / hedge fund markets at all.

DRF picked a fine time to put themselves on the market when companies are fetching the biggest numbers in sales to PE firms.

This is part of a larger trend of companies either staying private or going private to stay out of the specter of overreaching government regulations in response to the Enron and other corporate failures. This trend will continue until the government makes it respectable again to be a public company.

[JustRalph]

in the next year the form goes up a buck a copy...................

[njcurveball]

In 2004, Wicks paid about $60 million to $70 million for it.


Now he is flipping it after 3 years of whining about print and paper costs and gets triple the price?

What did I miss here? I thought they were in big trouble and talking about doing away with some of the Print editions?

[Loosehorse]

http://www.paidcontent.org/entry/419...-million-repo/

[michiken]

Way back when the DRF went to the dogs and required tons of personal data to view the site, I refused to sign up......

I wonder what the new parent company is going to do with all that personal information from all of you that did sign up?

[point given]

Originally Posted by njcurveball

In 2004, Wicks paid about $60 million to $70 million for it.


Now he is flipping it after 3 years of whining about print and paper costs and gets triple the price?

What did I miss here? I thought they were in big trouble and talking about doing away with some of the Print editions?

crist and partners bought it for $40 mil ,sold it for 60-70, and stayed on to run it. Now sells for $200 mil. There must be some nice golden parachutes and incentives built in there. Mr crist need not worry about funding his pick 6 bets anymore, I'd guess.

[PaceAdvantage]

Originally Posted by njcurveball

What did I miss here? I thought they were in big trouble and talking about doing away with some of the Print editions?

Well, for one, you probably missed the companies DRF+Wicks have purchased recently:

For Release: November 15, 2005
Daily Racing Form Acquires Publishing Assets of Sports Eye, Inc.

For Release: May 15, 2006
Daily Racing Form Purchases Production Assets of Sullivan Brothers and Sports Eye

For Release: June 13, 2006
Daily Racing Form Posts Impressive Growth and Diversification
DRF Continues to Evolve as Company Under Wicks Sports Information, LLC


These subsequent acquisitions obviously increase the asking price of the DRF over the original $70mil