Highline Media, corporate parent of National Underwriter, hasbeen acquired–along with Pfingsten Publishing–by Wind PointPartners, a private equity firm. The two companies will operateunder the corporate umbrella of a newly formed publisher, SummitBusiness Media.

“We are very pleased to acquire Pfingsten and Highline, whichhave been fast-growing business-to-business information companies,”said William F. Reilly, chairman and chief executive officer ofSummit. “Both companies have outstanding management teams withexcellent track records and experience. The businesses have majorbrands and are leading information providers in their respectivemarkets.”

Mr. Reilly added that “the combined enterprise has manyopportunities for synergy in that Highline has a very strongposition in electronic publishing, while Pfingsten has significantexperience in trade shows, conferences and seminars. The fact thatboth are information providers to the insurance industry, forexample, is a major plus.”

He said that while “print products remain an important elementof our media mix,” they are “currently only a little over 50percent of the sales of the combined companies.”

The two acquired companies “have similar operating strategies inthat they are classic affinity marketing businesses,” said Mr.Reilly, who was most recently chairman and CEO of F&WPublications. Prior to that, he was founder, chairman and CEO ofPrimedia, and before that was president of Macmillan PublishingCompany.

James TenBroek, managing director at Wind Point, promised “newproduct launches and acquisitions. We plan to make Summit a majorforce in the business-to-business information community.”

Andy Goodenough, president of Highline Media, said that“everyone at Highline is excited to join Bill Reilly, Pfingsten andWind Point Partners to create a world-class information company. Wehave long respected Pfingsten's leading brands in the insurance andmortgage categories…”

He added that “now we can work together to pursue a coordinatedstrategy…to extend our joint strong positions in insurance andfinancial services, and in conferences and trade shows.”

Joe Bennett, president of Pfingsten, said he is “pleased to joinwith Andy Goodenough of Highline to strengthen our market shares inthe insurance field, further penetrate the financial servicesmarket, and increase our electronic publishing positions.”

He said, “We are very excited to have the benefit of Highline'sexperience in electronic publishing, as we see growth opportunitiesin electronic media products for Pfingsten.” He added that “AndyGoodenough and his team bring cutting-edge skill and experience tothe electronic side.”

Wind Point Partners–a private equity investment firm withoffices in Chicago and Southfield, Mich.–has $2 billion in capitalunder management. “Wind Point focuses on partnering withtop-caliber management teams to acquire solid middle-marketbusinesses with a clear path to value creation,” the firm said in apress release.

Additional information about Wind Point is available atwww.windpointpartners.com.

Highline Media was formed in October 2003 to acquire TheNational Underwriter Company, now a 110-year-old firm that–alongwith this publication–publishes a second NU newsweekly targetingthe life, health and financial services industry. It also publishesClaims, Tech Decisions, Insurance Advocate and FloridaUnderwriter.

Besides magazines, Highline, in its NUCO deal, picked upreference tools and services such as “TaxFacts” and the “Fire,Casualty and Surety Bulletins,” along with 150 other books andelectronic products, and three conference events.

In May 2004, the company added insurance data assets–includingregulatory, mergers and acquisitions, and publicly traded data–fromThe Thomson Corp.

In the fall of 2005, Highline acquired Wealth Manager magazinefrom Bloomberg, and then Research and Futures magazines from AdamsBusiness Media. This year, Highline acquired the InsuranceExecutive Events from The Conference Group.

Highline has 220 employees and revenues of nearly $50 million.Additional information about Highline Media is available atwww.highlinemedia.com.

Pfingsten Publishing, formed in 1998, is a business-to-businessmedia company that serves 10 market segments through three businessgroups.

The Financial Services Group serves the life and healthinsurance, property-casualty insurance, and mortgage originationmarkets with magazines Life Insurance Selling, American Agent &Broker, and Mortgage Originator. In February 2005, the companyadded International Investment Conferences to its fold, whichfocuses on the global investment mining market.

Pfingsten also features an Art and Framing Group that servesvarious art markets, as well as an Industrial Group targetingcommercial construction, maintenance repair and operations.Additional information about Pfingsten Publishing is available atwww.pfingstenpublishing.com.