Funds advised by global private equity advisory business Apax Partners (Apax) have completed the previously announced acquisition of WGSN, Ascential’s subsidiary data business unit focused on consumer trend forecasting.
Founded in 1998, WGSN’s data and forecasts provide global trend insights across a wide range of industries, including fashion, beauty, food & drink, interiors and consumer technology. The company has experienced strong growth in recent years with a revenue CAGR of 8% from 2016 to 2022.
In partnership with the Apax funds, WGSN intends to focus on enhancing and expanding its product design and consumer insight products across a wide range of consumer-facing industries.
Apax’s history of partnering with businesses in the information and data space includes the funds’ prior investments in sports-data specialist Genius Sports and workforce screening solutions provider Accurate Background.
Apax was advised by Allen & Overy (lead counsel), Simon Kucher (lead commercial advisor), EY (tax and financial DD advisor) and Bank of America & Goldman Sachs (joint financial advisors).
