Cygnus Business Media Acquires Professional Trade Shows; Cygnus More Than Doubles Its Trade Show Portfolio with Acquisition of over 25 Regional Shows.

Business Editors

WESTPORT, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 28, 2003

Cygnus Business Media, a leading diversified business-to-business media company, announced today its Cygnus Expositions division has acquired Professional Trade Shows (PTS) from Ohio-based Penton Media, Inc.

PTS is the nation's leading producer of regional industrial trade shows with over 25 shows in 22 states serving four markets - Plant Engineering & Maintenance, Building & Facilities, Material Handling and Machine Tools. The acquisition will make Cygnus Expositions one of the 10 largest trade show organizers (by number of shows) in the U.S. Professional Trade Shows will become part of Cygnus Expositions - and will report to its President Jeff Price.

"This acquisition considerably increases the size of our Expo division as well as our media portfolio, with all shows strategically benefiting from our existing industrial and manufacturing print, online and database properties," says Cygnus Business Media President & CEO Paul Mackler. "Regional trade shows continue to be one of the most cost-effective ways to generate qualified sales leads and sell products and services. The PTS shows fit neatly into our strategy and markets."

According to the Center for Exhibition Industry Research, nearly all attendees take a buying-related action during a show, such as requesting price quotes or setting up appointments with salespeople. Even more remarkable is the fact that 85% of attendees claim to have not been contacted by a salesperson in the past year before a show.

"One-to-one relationships are built at trade shows and offer immediate interactivity between client and customer," says Price, an industry veteran with nearly 25 years of experience behind him. "Businesses understand the necessity of attending industry shows bringing together many vendors under one roof with qualified buyers searching for the newest in products, technology and services."

Professional Trade Shows has been producing shows for over 20 years and reaches hundreds of thousands of professionals who work in manufacturing plants, distribution centers, hospitals, warehouses, machine shops, office buildings, and government facilities. Professionals who attend their shows serve in the fields of plant engineering, maintenance, material handling, packaging, design engineering management, system integration and distribution management. In addition to exhibits, PTS also offers conferences at its shows providing solutions and training workshops led by top industry experts.

"Cygnus has solid footing in the markets we serve and can provide cross-promotional opportunities for our shows as well as for our exhibitors trying to reach their customers," says PTS President Terrence Grogan. "This acquisition has far-reaching opportunities and benefits for our customers and will help to not only communicate their brands more prominently, but reach their customers with greater intensity."

Cygnus Business Media's publishing division, Cygnus Publishing, publishes seven trade publications and two advertising card decks under its Industrial Manufacturing Equipment and Supplies Market - Fabricating & Metalworking, Industrial Machinery Digest, Industrial Machinery Digest Card Deck, Maintenance Supplies, OEM Off-Highway, Plant Safety & Maintenance, Plant Safety & Maintenance Card Deck, Solid Surface Magazine, and Wood Digest. In addition, it publishes three annual directories - Machine Tool Directory, Plant Safety & Maintenance Directory and Welding Directory - and one semi-annual directory - Industrial Gears Directory - for a total print market reach of 320,000 industrial and manufacturing professionals.

Prior to the acquisition, Cygnus Expositions produced 17 trade shows, and recently announced the launch of four new shows scheduled for 2003. Cygnus Business Media publishes 67 trade magazines, 11 industry directories and 15 custom publications in 15 major markets. The company also owns significant property on the Web with over 60 Web sites reaching one million unique users monthly. For more information about the company, log onto Cygnusb2b.com.

ABOUT PENTON MEDIA

Penton Media (NYSE: PME) is a leading, global business-to-business media company that produces market-focused magazines, trade shows and conferences, and Web sites. Penton's integrated media portfolio serves the following industries: Internet/broadband; information technology; electronics; natural products; food/retail; manufacturing; design/engineering; supply chain; aviation; government/compliance; mechanical systems/construction; and leisure/hospitality. For more information, visit www.penton.com.