Government Executive Media Group (GEMG) is
poised to build a new market-leading data-driven platform following a controlling stake investment from middle market private-equity firm Growth Catalyst Partners (GCP).
GCP partnered with Peter Goldstone, former CEO of Hanley Wood and former president of GEMG, for the acquisition. GEMG has been owned by Atlantic Media chairman and owner David Bradley since 1997.
"2019 was the strongest year in Government Executive's 50-year history,” stated Bradley. “But now it seems almost certain that the enterprise stands at the threshold of its most-ambitious, most-ascendant hour. The advantage of scale — of the full range of services offered across the nation's whole geography — is compelling."
GEMG serves government leaders and contractors through editorial brands that include Government Executive, Nextgov, Defense One and Route Fifty, in addition to live and virtual events, marketing services and proprietary research.
advertisement
advertisement
Currently, GEMG counts more than 2 million active users from the federal, state and local government executive level and over 200 private-sector vendor partners.
Through its investment, GCP looks to deepening GEMG’s expansion strategy. That includes building new partnerships with a focus on complimentary editorial brands, proprietary data and events. It will also create a data-driven platform that supports decision-making on a government level.
“GEMG has all of the qualities we look for in companies, including a strong management team, a proven portfolio of leading products and services and an excellent reputation in their sector,” Scott Peters, cofounder of Growth Catalyst Partners, stated. “GCP seeks to build middle market leaders in large, fragmented industry sectors with high growth potential and GEMG is an ideal example.”
GCP supplies expertise across information, data, marketing and tech-enabled business models, in addition to Goldstone’s prior experience with the GEMG.
“Partnering with GCP and the GEMG team presents an ideal opportunity for me to leverage a career of experience into a very exciting market partnership. This enables us to bring together capital, complementary skill sets and an extraordinary team in a market that is perfect for our investment strategy,” stated Goldstone.
Following the investment, Bradley will remain a prominent investor in GEMG, while remaining a board member. Goldstone will become chairman of the board.
GEMG will be led by CEO Tim Hartman, president Connie Sayers and EIC Tom Shoop.