New York, NY – Penton stepped up its presence in the food industry with the acquisition of Nation’s Restaurant News (NRN) and its associated industry event, the Multi-Unit Foodservice Operators (MUFSO) conference.
The acquisition announced December 13 is a cornerstone of the Restaurant Group, a new division formed within Penton that will also include the current Restaurant Hospitality and Food Management portfolio.
“Our Restaurant Group will have every single segment of foodservice covered — from full service to QSR, independents to chains, and commercial to noncommercial. We will be able to connect readers and marketers through print, online, events and research,” said Penton CEO Sharon Rowlands. “NRN is a property Penton has coveted owning for some time.”
Rowlands told Trade Show Executive that MUFSO was given a prominent place in Penton’s strategy for the sector. “We see this event as core to our Restaurant Group, and will use it as the centerpiece of a growing foodservice events business in the future,” she said.
Terms of the deal between Penton and NRN’s parent company, Lebhar-Friedman, were not announced. NRN Publisher Randall Friedman will join Penton as market leader for the Restaurant Group.
The 51st annual MUFSO was held October 3-5, 2010 at the Gaylord Palms Resort & Convention Center in Orlando. The event drew about 750 attendees from major restaurant chains and was the venue for NRN’s annual Hot Concepts Awards gala, which included sponsorships from major restaurant vendors such as Coca-Cola and American Express.
MUFSO 2011 is scheduled for September 25-27 at the Gaylord Texan Resort & Convention Center in Grapevine, TX.
Reach Sharon Rowlands at (212) 204-4200 or sharon.rowlands@penton.com; Randall Friedman at (212) 756-5171 or rsfriedman@nrn.com
