JPMorgan Partners to acquire Hanley Wood from Veronis Suhler Stevenson.

An investment group led by JPMorgan Partners (New York), a private equity affiliate of J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Hanley Wood (Washington, D.C.), a b2b media company serving the residential and commercial construction industries, from Veronis Suhler Stevenson (New York) for $650 million, or about 13x Hanley Wood's annual EBIDTA. JPMorgan said the deal, upon completion, will represent the second largest b2b media transaction in the U.S., trailing only the sale of Advanstar Communications in 2000. The investment group also includes Wasserstein & Co. and current and former Hanley Wood management. The winning investment group outbid its surviving bidding competitor, J.W. Childs Associates (Boston, MA). DeSilva & Phillips (New York), Credit Suisse First Boston (New York) and O'Melveny & Myers (Los Angeles, CA) advised JPMorgan Partners while Veronis Suhler Stevenson and Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison (New York) acted as advisors to Hanley Wood.

Through five operating divisions, Hanley Wood produces 22 magazines, 17 Web sites, 15 trade shows and events, rich data and custom marketing solutions. Established in 1976, the company is also North America's leading provider of home plans. It is one of the ten largest b2b media companies in the U.S. The company's five divisions include Hanley Wood Magazines (Washington, D.C.), the producer of 22 trade magazine titles, including 'Builder,' 'Multifamily Executive,' 'Residential Architect,' 'Building Products,' 'Masonry Construction' and 'Public Works.' Hanley Wood Exhibitions (Dallas, TX) produces 15 construction industry events and trade shows, while Hanley Wood Marketing (Minneapolis, MN) provides a range of marketing communications products to corporate clients in the construction and related business markets. Hanley Wood Market Intelligence (Costa Mesa, CA) is a provider of data and consulting services on residential real estate development and new-home construction in most of the U.S.'s top 20 markets.

Company founder Michael Wood will step down as CEO, but will remain a board member. Current president Frank Anton will become CEO of the organization. 'Our goal is to continue the dramatic growth that Hanley Wood has achieved during our partnership with Veronis Suhler Stevenson,' Anton said. 'We have a five-year plan in place called HWX (Hanley Wood Accelerates) to double our existing businesses, and we expect to remain an active acquirer of construction industry magazines, trade shows and data businesses.'

Veronis Suhler acquired Hanley Wood in August 1999. Since then the company has more than doubled annual revenues and tripled EBITDA through new product launches and 13 add-on acquisitions.