New company purchases 23 media properties from Reed Business Information.

Advantage Business Media (Rockaway, NJ), a new company formed by former Cygnus Business Media executives Richard Reiff and George Fox and backed by Catalyst Investors (New York), a private equity firm, has acquired the New Products division, including 23 print and online b2b media titles, from Reed Business Information (New York). No terms of the deal were given. Reed was represented by Jordan, Edmiston Group (New York).

The acquired assets include 19 magazine titles, including the monthlies "Bioscience Technology," "CED," "Drug Discovery & Development," "Food Manufacturing," "Genomics & Proteomics," "Industrial Maintenance & Plant Operation," "Laboratory Equipment," "Medical Design Technology," "Pharmaceutical Processing," "Product Design & Development," "Production Technology News," "R&D," "Scientific Computing" and "Surgical Products," as well as "Chem.Info," produced bimonthly, "ECN," published 18 times a year, and "Wireless Week," published 25 times a year, and the rights to "Process Engineer" and "Wireless Design." The acquired assets also include BioPerform.com, Broadband-Today.com, Manufacturing.net, ReedLink, and the "Electronics Industry Telephone Directory" (EITD).

Reiff said that "coming with the business are more than 200 employees, most of whom have been with the company for many years bringing stability as we convert this business from a division of a large company to a stand-alone company." Catalyst Investors General Partner Ryan McNally said that Advantage "is a platform company on which we will grow business-to-business publishing, as well as online-based media, and the acquisition of Reed New Products is a terrific place to start ... we intend to be acquisitive."

Reed Business Information CEO Tad Smith said the sale of his company's properties "is in line with our ongoing effort to focus our United States portfolio. Reiff noted that his company has no plans to divest any of the acquired properties.