New York, NY – Canon Communications LLC has acquired four engineering-oriented publications from Reed Business Information (RBI) in a strategic deal that Canon sees as bolstering its manufacturing trade shows.
Canon added Electronic Design News (EDN), Design News, Test & Measurement World and Packaging Digest to its portfolio in a transaction expected to close soon. Terms of the deal were not announced.
The transaction did not involve any exhibitions, but the four publications and their online operations were expected to immediately contribute to Canon’s existing events as well as its print division. “It balances our portfolio and brings market breadth to our Publishing Division comparable to that of our Events Division,” said Charles McCurdy, chairman and CEO of Canon. “We now cover virtually the entire array of advanced manufacturing sectors across all media.”
Kevin O’Keefe, executive vice president of the Events Division, said the new properties were already being integrated into Canon’s operations. The electronics titles will be worked into the Canon Medical Device brands while Packaging Digest will be assigned to Pharmaceutical and Medical Packaging News. “In fact,” O’Keefe said, “we are tying in with EDN and are already developing medical electronics features alongside our medical manufacturing shows in Yokahama and Chicago later this year.”
Reed was represented in the negotiations by The Jordan Edmiston Group, Inc. Reed has been culling its print portfolio aggressively since last year. Its events are not on the block. The company reportedly warned its employees in early January that several titles faced closure this year if buyers could not be found.
Reach Charles McCurdy at (310) 445-8585 or charles.mccurdy@cancom.com; Kevin O’Keefe at (310) 445-4200 or kevin.okeefe@cancom.com; John Poulin, CEO of Reed Business Information, at (646) 746-6400 or jpoulin@reedbusiness.com
