Summit Business Media Appoints Andrew L. Goodenough as CEO
William F. Reilly Will Continue to Serve as Chairman
New York, N.Y., July 30, 2008 – Summit Business Media today announced that Andrew L. Goodenough has been named President and CEO. The CEO title was previously held by William F. Reilly. Reilly, one of the most successful investors in B2B media, will continue to serve as Chairman, in a non-executive capacity, and remains a major investor in Summit. Goodenough, 52, was named President of Summit in September 2007.
“Going into the formation of Summit in November 2006, my plan was to drive the initial growth of the business for several years as CEO, and then step back to the Chairman role,” Reilly said. “I am delighted to be able to report that Summit, in less than two years, is off to a great start and has taken its place as a major B2B media company with more than 26 magazine titles, 150 reference books and electronic products and 100 live events. We’ve built a best-in-class management team led by Andy Goodenough, and I’m pleased to be able to step back to that Chairman role sooner than expected and turn over the day-to-day executive reins to Andy and his team.”
“We are very pleased with Summit’s success to date and Andy’s role in leading us to this point,” said Jim TenBroek, Managing Director at Wind Point Partners, Summit’s largest investor. “We also have the utmost respect for Bill Reilly as a gifted manager and trusted friend in initiating this transition. We look forward to continue working with him as Chairman and investor. Moving forward, Andy Goodenough and his strong management team are well positioned to take advantage of opportunities as they continue to implement Summit’s growth strategy.”
Summit Business Media was formed in November 2006 through Wind Point Partners' acquisition of Highline Media and Pfingsten Publishing in partnership with Reilly and management of Highline Media.
Goodenough has been a senior B2B executive and entrepreneur for more than 30 years. He was President of USB Corporation and Publisher of U.S. Banker before its sale to Thomson Media in 1993, and then served as the President of Thomson’s Banking Publishing/Conferences Group. The group published and hosted more than 80 products and events including American Banker, U.S. Banker, Bank Technology News, National Mortgage News, Credit Union Journal and many others. Goodenough later created the business plan for a new financial services information company in 2002, secured equity funding from Spire Capital in January 2003 and in October of that year, launched Highline Media and acquired The National Underwriter Company, now a core asset in Summit’s operations. Highline Media was acquired as part of the formation of Summit in November 2006.
Goodenough is a graduate of Middlebury College in Vermont and holds an MBA degree in finance and marketing from New York University.
Summit Business Media Acquires WiesnerMedia's Financial Group
Expands Its B2B Media Footprint with Insurance and Financial Advisors and Provides New Access to the Fast-Growing Group Benefits Segment
New York, N.Y – July 15, 2008 – Summit Business Media today announced the acquisition of WiesnerMedia's Financial Group of B2B media and marketing services, including Senior Market Advisor, Boomer Market Advisor, Benefits Selling and Bank Advisor magazines, as well as ProducersWEB.com , the fast-growing online destination for insurance agents. The transaction is Summit's fourth major acquisition since being formed in November 2006 and its seventh overall since its inception.
The group's products and services provide information on sales, marketing and best practice techniques for insurance, financial, benefits and bank advisors. In addition to the publications and ProducersWEB.com, the transaction also includes Advisors Data Source, a comprehensive database with 2 million agent and advisor names, and two leading industry events, Benefits Selling Expo and Senior Market Advisor Expo.
"This acquisition of one of the last significant independent financial and insurance publishers substantially increases our penetration of the life insurance and financial advisor markets, two of our core segments, while providing access to the benefits advisor market, one of the fastest-growing segments in the financial services marketplace," said William F. Reilly, Chairman and CEO of Summit.
As a result of this acquisition, Summit will offer more readers more high quality products and services, and provide marketers with even more comprehensive and measurable ways to build their businesses.
Andrew L. Goodenough, Summit's President, added, "These assets compliment Summit's existing B2B media platform, now with 25 magazine titles, 150 reference books and electronic products, and 100 live events. The WiesnerMedia properties further strengthen our market position in the 'independent retail financial distribution' sector, which we believe is a long-term, inexorable trend, as most major financial providers continue to outsource sales to independent agents and advisors."
Dan Wiesner, CEO of WiesnerMedia LLC, commented, "Since the launch of Senior Market Advisor in 2000, our publishing teams have developed successful products and services to serve the financial markets. Now, teamed up with Summit, these professionals have access to world-class resources and the opportunity to continue expanding their brands and innovating for customers."
Headquartered in Denver, the new Summit properties will report to Tom Fowler, Executive Vice President and Managing Director of Summit's Media Division. Betsy Kominsky, who had been Vice President/Publishing Director at WiesnerMedia, becomes Vice President/Group Publisher of Summit's Market Advisor Group and now reports to Fowler. Jeff Schottland, Vice President and Director of ProducersWEB.com out of Philadelphia, will also report to Fowler.
"Working with the support of Wind Point Partners, our private equity investor, we will continue to make appropriate investments to advance Summit's growth strategy," said Goodenough. "While strategic follow-on acquisitions will remain an important part of that strategy, especially in live event, data, reference and electronic arenas, we believe the platform we have continues to have strong organic growth potential. This growth is coming not only online, where in the first half of 2008 Summit has grown more than 50% over last year, but also in print, where the WiesnerMedia magazines have exhibited strong growth characteristics."
Media Resource Group (www.media-resource.com ) represented WiesnerMedia, LLC in this transaction and acted as its exclusive financial advisor. Founded by Steve Rosenfield in 1995, MRG is a leading independent advisory group serving the media and information industries.
About Summit Business Media
Summit Business Media was formed through Wind Point Partners' acquisition of Highline Media and Pfingsten Publishing in November 2006. The leading B2B media and information company for the insurance, investment and professional services markets, Summit publishes the insurance titles National Underwriter Property/Casualty and Life/Health weeklies, Life Insurance Selling, Agent Sales Journal, American Agent & Broker, Claims, Tech Decisions and Florida Underwriter, and financial titles Wealth Manager, Research, Futures and Mortgage Originator. In July 2007 the Company acquired Wicks Business Information, and added Investment Advisor, Credit Union Times, Inside Counsel and Treasury & Risk magazines, continuing to expand its footprint in the financial industry as well as adding the legal and accounting markets, as part of its growth into the professional services marketplace. In the Reference arena, the company publishes TaxFacts and Fire, Casualty and Surety Bulletins, and, through its Highline Data unit, financial and market information on insurers, agents and company benefit plans. Summit also sponsors the International Investment Conferences on global mining investment, a dozen conference events affiliated with its magazine brands, and via its Executive Enterprises unit, nearly 100 professional education seminars annually. , along with 150 other books and electronic products. Summit offers more than 200 live events (trade shows, conferences and professional education seminars). The company is also the leading data provider of financial and market information on insurance companies in the country. Summit Business Media employs nearly 500 people in 15 offices throughout the United States.
Summit is also one of the leading organizers of consumer art expositions and providers of business-to-business information to the art market.
Nearly all products are available online as well as in print. Additional information about Summit is available at www.summitbusinessmedia.com .
About WiesnerMedia
Established in 1980, WiesnerMedia, LLC is one of Colorado's leading independent media companies. Colorado Biz is the state's 35 year-old publication serving business executives charged with leading the company's growth initiatives. Trucking Times serves retailers, warehouse distributors, jobbers, and other industry observers in the light-truck and SUV accessory aftermarket. Corporate Apparel is dedicated to corporate buyers of branded apparel. WiesnerMedia's Custom Publishing Group is acclaimed for its quality publications, customer service and innovative marketing solutions. Additional information is available at www.wiesnermedia.com .
About Wind Point Partners®
Wind Point Partners is a private equity investment firm with approximately $2 billion of capital under management. Wind Point focuses on partnering with top caliber management teams to acquire middle market businesses where we can establish a clear path to value creation. Additional information about Wind Point is available at www.windpointpartners.com.