John Wiley & Sons (WLY) Acquisition presentation summary

Strategic rationale and transaction overview

• Acquisition of Emerald Publishing for £337M ($452M) expands scale and proprietary content in research publishing, especially in social sciences, economics, business, finance, and engineering.

• Transaction valued at ~7x adjusted EBITDA post-synergies, with all-cash financing and no equity or earnouts.

• Expected to be accretive to adjusted EPS in year 1 and free cash flow in year 2, with ROIC above weighted average cost of capital by year 2.

• Anticipated $30M run rate cost synergies, mainly from integration and elimination of duplicative costs, with full realization by year 3.

• One-time integration costs total $18M, split evenly over the first two years.

Emerald Publishing profile and financials

• Projected FY26 revenue of $85M and adjusted EBITDA margin of 37-38% before synergies; post-synergy margin expected above 60%.

• 92% recurring revenue and 99.6% customer retention, with a broad, loyal global customer base.

• Portfolio includes 485 journals, 8,000 books, and 3,000 cases, with 90% of revenue from digital sources.

• Diversified revenue with 85% generated outside North America, largest markets in Asia and Europe.

• Recognized for integrity, quality, and a performance-driven culture.

Synergies and value creation

• Integration expected to deliver $30M in annual cost savings and incremental revenue from US expansion, cross-selling, and AI licensing.

• Emerald's content enhances AI and data analytics capabilities, supporting new industry verticals and decision-ready insights.

• Strengthens recurring revenue streams and margin expansion, with substantial accretion to overall profitability.

• Leverage remains within the 1.5-2.5x target range, preserving investment capacity and shareholder returns.

• Advisors for the transaction include Centerview Partners and Evercore.