Prism Business Media acquires Penton Media & Fairchild title.

Prism Business Media Holdings (New York), a company owned by U.S. Equity Partners (New York), an investment partnership sponsored by Wasserstein & Co. (New York) and co-investors Highfields Capital Management (Boston, MA) and Lexington Partners (New York), has signed an agreement to acquire Penton Media (Cleveland, OH) for a cash consideration of $194.2 million. The total value of the transaction, including the assumption of or repayment of debt, is $530 million, or 2.67 times Penton's 2005 revenue of $198.85 million.

Penton produces 50 magazines, more than 80 trade shows and conferences and a range of online media products, including 43 web sites, in four main divisions. The Industry division includes products for its Aviation, Design/Engineering, Economic Development, Government Compliance, Manufacturing, Mechanical Systems/Construction and Supply Chain units and publishes such titles as "Air Transport World," "Machine Design," "Expansion Management," "Government Product News," "American Machinist," "HPAC Engineering" and "Logistics Today."

The Technology division covers the Business Technology, Digital Home, Electronics and Enterprise IT markets and publishes such titles as "Business Performance Management," "Electronic Design" and "SQL Server." The Retail division covers the Bakery/C-Store, Foodservice and Leisure/ Hospitality markets and produces "Baking Management," "Food Management" and "Lodging Hospitality," while the Lifestyle division covers natural products and produces such titles as "Natural Foods Merchandiser" and "Nutrition Business Journal."

For the first nine months of 2006, Penton had revenue of $144.1 million, a decrease of $4 million, or 3%, compared to the same 2005 period. The company had a net loss of $3 million compared with a net loss of $3.7 million in the first nine months of 2005. Online revenue in the period increased $4 million, or 30.4%, going from $13.1 million in 2005 to $17.1 million this year, while event revenue decreased $6.9 million, or 21.1%, to $25.8 million. Publishing revenue was $15.8 million. Revenue for the Lifestyle division fell $4.8 million, or 14.8%, to $27.3 million.

Prism serves 20 market sectors, including the Agribusiness, Communications, Electrical & Public Services, Entertainment, Marketing and Transportation markets through the production of 70 publications, 130 web sites, 180 e-mail newsletters, more than 20 trade shows and more than 450 directories. The company operates 15 offices in 12 states, including major operations in Overland Park (KS), New York, Chicago, Stamford (CT) and San Jose (CA).