McGraw Hill Financial to sell its Aviation Week brand to Penton; acquisition includes events, data, digital and media products, will join Penton's Aviation Group

Kendall Sinclair

NEW YORK , July 25, 2013 (press release) – Acquisition will fit perfectly with Penton’s focus on creating leadership positions in five key growth-oriented industry sectors and unlocking additional asset value through its Digital Strategic Plan

Continues Penton’s transformation; 75 percent of Penton profits will tie to high margin, non-print assets including digital information and data products, events and marketing services

Penton, a leading strategic information and marketing solutions company, announced today that it has agreed to acquire Aviation Week, the leading brand in global aviation information, including its events, data, digital and media products from McGraw Hill Financial (NYSE: MHFI). The acquisition of Aviation Week, together with Penton’s Aviation Group, will create the largest and most powerful targeted marketing platform for companies and executives in the dynamic and growing global aviation industry. The transaction is anticipated to close shortly, subject to customary closing conditions. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

The global aviation industry will present significant growth opportunities for the newly combined entity. According to the PwC U.S Aerospace and Defense 2012 Year in Review and 2013 Forecast, the industry set records for revenue and profit in 2012. The report also revealed that the global aviation industry, fueled primarily by commercial and business aviation on a domestic and international basis, will continue to grow at 5% over the next five years. Long-term forecast for commer¬cial OEM aircraft on a global basis is about 34,000 deliveries valued at about $4.5 tril¬lion over the next 20 years. Foreign direct investment in aviation continues to increase globally with China, India, the United States and Mexico leading the way.

Commenting on the acquisition, David Kieselstein, CEO of Penton, said, “Aviation Week is the clear leader in global aviation information with exceptional assets including: a growing maintenance/repair/overhaul (MRO) event platform with shows in North America, Europe and Asia; the leading digital information service in The Aviation Week Intelligence Network (AWIN); and, the most respected content engine in the industry. We see a huge opportunity to unlock additional growth by overlaying Penton’s formula of centralized centers of excellence in marketing services, digital community, insights and data product development to spur further growth.

“This new formula has allowed us to transform Penton into a next generation information services company with over 75% of our profits driven by digital, event and marketing services profit streams at exceptional margins,” continued Kieselstein. “We are also thrilled to have Gregory Hamilton and his experienced team join the Penton family. Greg brings 26 years of industry experience and will lead the newly combined group. I know he will do an excellent job of it.”

Mr. Hamilton will report to Warren N. Bimblick, senior vice president, strategy and business development for Penton.

Penton is well into its strategic transformation from a more traditional B2B media company into a focused and dynamic information and marketing services company with dominant positions in five core sectors that have strong secular growth trends including: agriculture, transportation, natural products/food, infrastructure, and industrial design and manufacturing.

Penton has utilized both targeted strategic acquisitions and organic growth through innovative new product launches to drive its transformation. The acquisition of Aviation Week meets Penton’s three key filters for capital allocation including: industry sectors with strong projected secular growth; combining existing and acquired assets to create or extend a clear market leadership position; and assets where Penton can unlock additional growth via its five digital growth initiatives, including user workflow, digital community, insights, virtual education, and its events “365” model.

Aviation Week marks Penton’s third major strategic acquisition since late 2010, and follows the highly successful integrations of Farm Progress and Nation’s Restaurant News. These three deals have all been executed privately, outside of auctions.

“Aviation Week is a premier franchise in the civil and defense aerospace industry, with an excellent team, and we appreciate their contributions to McGraw Hill Financial,” said Harold McGraw III, chairman, president and CEO of McGraw Hill Financial. “We respect the team at Penton and understand that their strategic plans for growth and their established presence in the aviation sector make their company an excellent home for this business.”

Penton Aviation and Aviation Week have established highly valued content platforms, leading events, research and information resources and analytical tools that serve the global commercial, defense, MRO, space and business aviation communities.

Aviation Week serves over 1.2 million professionals in 185 countries with its flagship media, online, live events and information technology and research assets, including Aviation Week & Space Technology and its MRO and Defense Technology editions, Business & Commercial Aviation and AWIN. Penton Aviation owns and operates leading brands in business and commercial aviation including Air Transport World, SpeedNews, Aircraft Bluebook, Air Charter Guide, Airportdata.com and Ac-U-KWIK. Aviation Week expands Penton’s transportation assets which include Wards, Fleet Owner and Penton Aviation.

“This is a dynamic time in the aviation industry with growth in emerging markets, increased competition between major commercial airline manufacturers, and the development of new products for both civilian and military use,” said Warren Bimblick, senior vice president, strategy and business development. “There is a robust appetite for information, data and the tools to enable companies to perform better and grow their market share. Together Aviation Week and Penton Aviation are perfectly poised to meet that demand.”

The Penton Aviation group will now have 143 employees around the world including in New York; Washington, D.C.; Kansas; California; Massachusetts; England; France; Germany and China.

For additional information on the company and its businesses, visit www.penton.com.

About Penton
For millions of business owners and decision-makers, Penton makes the difference every day. We engage our professional users by providing actionable ideas and insights, data and workflow tools, community and networking, both in person and virtually, all with deep relevance to their specific industries. We then activate this engagement by connecting users with tens of thousands of targeted providers of products and services to help drive business growth. Learn more about our company at www.penton.com.

Penton is a privately held company owned by MidOcean Partners and U.S. Equity Partners II, an investment fund sponsored by Wasserstein & Co., LP.

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