Vitesse Media, the diversified business publishing group covering the entrepreneurial and investment scene, has bought Information Age publisher Infoconomy for £770,000.

Vitesse Media, the diversified business publishing group covering the entrepreneurial and investment scene, has bought Information Age publisher Infoconomy for £770,000.

AIM-quoted Vitesse, whose publishing, events and multimedia products include Mergers & Acquisitions, has agreed to pay £555,000 cash and transfer 577,163 shares to buy London-based Infoconomy, which also publishes www.information-age.com online. Vitesse, which last week announced a first-half move into the black, is raising £750,000 (£660,000 after expenses) to fund the cash element of the deal and pay for other ‘small, add-on acquisitions’ in a placing at 25p, to which Vitesse directors Andrew Brode and Christopher Ingram are subscribing.

Founded seven years ago, Infoconomy is an IT award-winning business-to-business publisher, which specialises in creating business opportunities for suppliers of IT and services. In the financial period to February, the company lost £89,520 on revenues of £1.7 million.

The takeover will give Information Age the chance to increase its revenues through access to Vitesse’s audience and marketing and management skills. Vitesse also intends to cut Infoconomy’s costs by applying its greater purchasing power.

Vitesse chairman Sara Williams comments, ‘Infoconomy and, in particular, its Information Age title is a perfect fit for Vitesse. We believe there will be a huge knowledge exchange between the two companies.’

At 38p, up from 15p two years ago, Vitesse shares now value the company at nearly £8 million.