Highline Media, corporate parent of Tech Decisions, has been acquired along with Pfingsten Publishing by Wind Point Partners, a private equity firm, and William F. Reilly. The two companies will operate under the corporate umbrella of a newly formed publisher, Summit Business Media, with Reilly serving as CEO.
"We are very pleased to acquire Highline and Pfingsten, which have been fast-growing business-to-business information companies," says Reilly. "Both companies have outstanding management teams with excellent track records and experience. The businesses have major brands and are leading information providers in their respective markets."
Reilly feels the combined enterprise has many opportunities for synergy in that Highline has a very strong position in electronic publishing while Pfingsten has significant experience in trade shows, conferences, and seminars. "The fact that both are information providers to the insurance industry, for example, is a major plus," he says. "The two companies also have similar operating strategies in that they are classic affinity marketing businesses. Print products remain an important element of our media mix but are currently only a little over 50 percent of the sales of these combined companies."
James TenBroek, managing director at Wind Point, echoes Reilly's comments, stating, "Planning for Summit includes very achievable value creation initiatives, including new product launches and acquisitions. We plan to make Summit a major force in the business-to-business information community." Reilly will be joined by Andy Goodenough, president of Highline, and Joe Bennett, president of Pfingsten. Both executives have more than 20 years in the business information market.
"Everyone at Highline is excited to join Bill Reilly, Pfingsten, and Wind Point Partners to create a world-class information company," says Goodenough. "We have long respected Pfingsten's leading brands in the insurance and mortgage categories as well as its trade show program for financial investors in the precious metals markets worldwide. Now, we can work together to pursue a coordinated strategy with Joe Bennett to extend our joint strong positions in insurance and financial services and in conferences and trade shows."
Bennett believes the new company will have a stronger market share in the insurance field, further penetrate the financial services market, and increase electronic publishing positions. "We are very excited to have the benefit of Highline's experience in electronic publishing as we see growth opportunities in electronic media products for Pfingsten," he says. "Andy Goodenough and his team bring cutting-edge skill and experience to the electronic side. We also see significant growth opportunity in the Art Market, in which we have leadership positions in magazines, trade and consumer shows, conferences, and seminars."
Reilly brings 25 years of senior leadership experience in the media and publishing industry. He was most recently chairman and CEO of F&W Publications. Prior to F&W, he served as founder, chairman, and CEO of Primedia, a diversified media company with sales of $1.7 billion at the time of his departure in 1999. Prior to Primedia, he was president of Macmillan Publishing Company.
Highline Media was formed in October 2003 to acquire The National Underwriter Company, a publisher and reference provider to the insurance and financial industries. In addition to Tech Decisions, other Highline products include the National Underwriter Property/Casualty and Life/Health weeklies, Claims, Research, Futures, Wealth Manager, Insurance Advocate, and Florida Underwriter; the reference tools TaxFacts and Fire, Casualty and Surety Bulletins; along with 150 other books and electronic products and five conference events.
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