English▼

Enter a question here... Search: j All sources

k
l
m
n i Co
j
k
l
m
n

UBM
Browse: Unanswered questions | New questions | New answers | Reference library

On this page
UBM Related
Library
Animal Life What can y
Hoover's Company Profiles: UBM plc
Business & Finance
Cars & Vehicles
Entertainment & Arts
Home > Library > Business & Finance > Hoover's Profiles
Answer
Food & Cooking (London:UBM)
Health The differe
History, Politics, Society Type: Public Contact Information
Home & Garden On the web: http://www.unitedbusinessmedia.com
Law & Legal Issues Employees: 6,141 UBM plc
Featured
Literature & Language Employee growth: 0.8% Ludgate House, 245 Personal Lo
Miscellaneous Blackfriars Rd.
Religion & Spirituality London SE1 9UY, United Mobile Foo
UBM (formerly United Business Media) is an information clearinghouse. The firm
Science Kingdom How To Ge
focuses on two main activities: distributing news from companies and
Sports Tel. +44-20-7921-5000
Technology organizations through global news service PR Newswire, and producing industry Personal B
events, publications, and databases for business-to-business communities. Its 15 Fax +44-20-7928-2728
Travel & Places Side Effect
Q&A or so businesses include UBM Conferences, which operates globally across all
UBM's divisions to produce more than 80 industry events, and the Everything
Channel, a provider of IT-focused events, media, and sales and marketing services. Its US-based UBM TechWeb Follow u
  covers technology markets, while UBM Global Trade targets global trade and transportation. UBM was founded in
1918 as United Newspapers Limited. Facebo

Key numbers for fiscal year ending December, 2010:

Sales: $1,375.4M
One year growth: 1.9%
Net income: $140.4M
Income growth: 17.3%

Officers:
Chairman: John C. Botts
Chief Executive and Director: David Levin
Group Operations Director and Deputy CFO: Andrew Crow

Competitors:
International Data Group
Reed Elsevier Group
Thomson Reuters

TechEncyclopedia: UBM Top

Home > Library > Technology > Computer Encyclopedia

(United Business Media, London, England, www.ubm.com) A leading integrated media company that offers a wide
variety of publications and services in information technology, electronics, healthcare and other fields. Founded in
1918 as United Newspapers, it became United News and Media in 1995 and United Business Media in 2000.

CMP Media

In 1999, UBM acquired CMP Media, a Manhasset, New York-based media company that offered 45 print publications
and 90 Web sites. In 1994, CMP was the first to establish Web sites for its print publications, and its TechWeb site
provided the first online technology news service. CMP was founded in 1971 by Gerard and Lilo Leeds.

Download Computer Desktop Encyclopedia to your PC, iPhone or Android.

Gale Directory of Company Histories: United Business Media plc Top

Home > Library > Business & Finance > Company Histories

Incorporated: 1918 as United Newspapers Ltd. Company Perspectives:

NAIC: 511110 Newspaper Publishers; 511120 Periodical Publishers; 514110
News Syndicates; 514191 On-Line Information Services; 541613 Marketing United provides business
Consulting Services; 541910 Marketing Research and Public Opinion Polling; information services principally
561920 Convention and Trade Show Organizers to the technology, healthcare,
media, automotive and financial
United Business Media plc (UBM) is a leading U.K.-based international services industries.
business publishing and services firm. The company's largest division,

http://www.answers.com/topic/united-business-media Page 1 / 7
 generating 59 percent of overall revenues, is the professional media unit, The services are provided by our
which is led by CMP Media, the leading U.S. high-tech professional media firm. leading market research, news
Among CMP Media's offerings are newspaper and magazine publications distribution, publishing and
(including Information Week), Internet versions of the print products as well events organising businesses.
as portals, direct marketing services, trade shows and conferences, research
and consulting, and custom publishing. CMP Healthcare Group provides UBM plans to extend the range
education and information to healthcare professionals, while the U.K.-based of its services to its key
CMP Information provides an array of integrated media services in specific business sectors by investing in
market sectors, such as agriculture, entertainment, and travel. The unit also new products, by providing its
includes two branches: CMP Europe and CMP Asia. Accounting for about 21 services globally and by acquiring
percent of revenues is the market research division, which is led by NOP companies which extend its
Research Group, the number two market research company in the United range of products and enhance
Kingdom. Other operations of this division include Mediamark Research, the its growth prospects.
leading U.S. syndicated magazine research company; and RoperASW, a major
U.S.-based consumer research firm. UBM's third leg is involved in news Key Dates:
distribution and contributes about 14 percent of sales. This division is headed
by PR Newswire, a distributor of corporate press releases via wire, fax, and l 1918: Supporters of the
e-mail. Two-thirds of UBM's revenues originate in North America, one-quarter U.K. prime minister, David
in the United Kingdom, about 5 percent in the Asia-Pacific region, and 3 Lloyd George, buy two
percent in continental Europe and the Middle East. newspapers, the Daily
Chronicle and Lloyd's
UBM's earliest roots are in the newspaper field, and it was known for most of Weekly News, forming
its history as United Newspapers. The company changed its name to United United Newspapers Ltd.
News & Media plc in 1995 to reflect widening interests, and one year later l 1925: Company goes
gained a number of broadcasting and entertainment properties through a public as United
merger with MAI PLC. In 2000, after the sale of its newspaper unit and most Newspapers plc.
of its consumer-related media properties, the company adopted its current l 1929: After William
name. UBM retained a few consumer media assets: a 35 percent stake in the Harrison buys a
United Kingdom's Channel 5, a 20 percent interest in Independent Television controlling interest, United
News, and two U.K. classified advertising periodicals, Dalton's Weekly and Newspapers is merged
Exchange & Mart. with Provincial
Newspapers Ltd.,
From the middle of the 19th century the newspaper industry had grown publisher of about 17 local Mention
faster in the United Kingdom than in any other country in the world. newspapers.
Educational reform provided a literate readership interested in foreign affairs l 1930: Under financial UBM Techn
and domestic politics, and rapidly improving road and rail links facilitated pressure, the company UBM (techn
distribution throughout the country. The industrial revolution had created merges the Daily
towns and cities that were able to provide a local newspaper with readers Chronicle with the Daily CMP (techn
and advertisers. Advances in technology--linotype and rotary presses, News to form the Daily United Bus
typewriters, telephones, and telegraphs--enabled local and national News and Chronicle--later
newspapers to operate profitably. the News Chronicle; a 50
percent stake in this
Politicians were quick to realize the great influence that newspaper editors paper is sold.
had over the electorate, and from the 1850s onward there was a l 1936: To resolve another
considerable interchange between the Parliament and Fleet Street, the financial crisis, the
traditional home of U.K. journalism. David Lloyd George, prime minister in the remaining stake in the
United Kingdom during World War I, was an adept user of the press and was News Chronicle is
not afraid to exercise his influence to negate the effects of a political crisis. divested; the company
When the Daily Chronicle employed as a military correspondent a stern critic of now concentrates on
his policies, Lloyd George responded by calling together a group of Liberals to regional newspapers.
buy out the owners of the paper. l 1946: Harold Charles
Drayton purchases one-
United Newspapers Ltd. was formed in 1918 by these supporters of the third of the company.
prime minister. The company bought two papers in the deal, of which the l 1948: Drayton becomes
Daily Chronicle was the most important. The other paper, Lloyd's Weekly News, chairman.
had been founded in 1842 and held the distinction of being the first l 1981: David Stevens
newspaper with a circulation of one million readers. The board of United takes over as chairman,
Newspapers soon began to publish a northern edition of the Daily Chronicle leading the company
as a rival to the Conservative Lord Northcliffe's Daily Mail and also acquired through a period of
the Edinburgh Evening News and the Doncaster Gazette, papers that carried on diversification and
the strong Liberal tradition of Lloyd George and his politically minded expansion abroad.
associates. In 1925 the company went public as United Newspapers plc. l Early 1980s:United
Newspapers makes its
In 1927 the company was sold for £2.9 million to the Daily Chronicle first major U.S.
Investment Group, a joint venture of Liberal interests led by the Marquis of acquisitions: Gralla, trade
Reading, Sir David Yule, and Sir Thomas Catto. A covenant in the sales magazine publisher and
document restricted the owners to running the paper "in accordance with the trade show promoter;
policy of Progressive Liberalism" to further social and industrial reform, free Miller Freeman, medical
trade, and "other programmes of Liberal and Radical measures adopted by and computer trade
the Liberal party." magazine publisher; and
PR Newswire.
l 1985: Company gains
Within a year United Newspapers was again in the hands of a new owner,
control of Fleet Holdings,
William Harrison, a Yorkshireman who had trained as a solicitor in London.
owner of the Daily
Although Harrison was a Conservative, he proclaimed that the group would
Express, the Sunday
continue to support Lloyd George and the Liberal cause. As chairman of the
Express, and the Star.
Inveresk Paper Company, Harrison bought a controlling interest in United
l 1987: Extel, provider of
Newspapers. The latter was then amalgamated in 1929 with Provincial
financial and sporting
Newspapers Ltd., an umbrella organization taking in some 17 local
information, is acquired.
newspapers that Harrison had acquired in the early and mid-1920s.
l 1995: United

http://www.answers.com/topic/united-business-media Page 2 / 7
 Newspapers changes its
Harrison's belief in the regional market molded United's acquisition strategy
name to United News &
for the next 50 years, but this strategy was also responsible for his downfall.
Media plc (UNM).
In the autumn of 1929, 80 percent of the value of the shares in the Inveresk
l 1996: UNM merges with
Paper Company was written off because of the Great Depression. In
MAI PLC, gaining various
December Harrison resigned as chairman when it was revealed that Inveresk
television assets; NOP
had debts of £2.5 million and that United Newspapers had no immediate
Research Group, a market
means to pay for a £500,000 modernization program for the Daily Chronicle.
research company; and a
Both companies were highly leveraged at a time when investment capital in
number of financial
all sectors of the economy was nearly impossible to secure.
services operations.
Blenheim Exhibitions and
The board of United Newspapers--led by Sir Bernhard Binder, founder of the Conferences is acquired.
chartered accountants Binder Hamlyn, and managing director Jack Akerman-- l 1998: The regional
was now facing a major crisis. Its solution was to merge the Daily Chronicle
newspaper business is
with the Daily News to produce a new title, the Daily News and Chronicle. In a divested; MAI's financial
move to provide finance for United's provincial press, 50 percent of the services unit is spun off
ownership of the new paper was sold to News and Westminster Ltd. into a separate company
called Garban plc.
The mid-1930s were difficult for United Newspapers. It was a time of l 1999: UNM acquires
depression and mass unemployment, especially in United's marketplace, the Audits & Surveys
north of England. Fears for the company's survival increased when Lord Worldwide Inc.,
Rothermere announced his venture, Northcliffe Newspapers, with a stated Continuing Medical
aim of producing an evening paper in every city and metropolitan area served Education, Inc., and CMP
by United Newspapers. But in a move executed by Jack Akerman and Sir Media Inc.
Herbert Grotrian, who had replaced Binder as chairman, United Newspapers l 2000: Divestments
sold its 50 percent share in what--in June 1930--had become the News totaling £3.2 billion are
Chronicle for £500,000 and was instantly freed from its debt. The reaction completed; United News &
from the City was ecstatic, and United's preference shares rose from one Media is renamed United
shilling sixpence to 25 shillings, as final proof that the crisis had been Business Media plc to
averted. highlight the new focus on
business publishing and
The war years were less difficult for United than they were for those business services.
newspaper groups that were based in heavily bombed Fleet Street. An l 2001: Market research
increase in news was cruelly matched by newsprint rationing, distribution and firms Allison-Fisher
communication problems, and government censorship. Although Sheffield and International, Inc. and
Hull suffered damage from Luftwaffe bombing comparable to that inflicted on Roper Starch Worldwide
London, presses in Scotland, Leeds, and the west country fared better, and LLC are acquired; the
United Newspapers was able to consolidate its success in these areas. latter is merged with
Audits & Surveys
The next event of importance for the directors of United Newspapers occurred Worldwide to form
in the winter of 1946 with an invitation to dinner at the Hyde Park Hotel from RoperASW.
Harold Charles Drayton. Drayton--always known as "Harley"--was the
epitome of the self-made man; born in rural Lincolnshire, he started his
working life as a £1-a-week office boy and rose through the ranks of the City, eventually controlling the 117 Old
Broad Street Group, a large and diverse empire of companies with worldwide interests.

Although Drayton described himself as almost uneducated, he was in truth an erudite and imaginative businessman.
He realized that United Newspapers was holding assets of immense value, in the shape of offices and printing
houses in the center of major towns and cities throughout the United Kingdom. Within a few weeks of the Hyde Park
dinner, Drayton began negotiating with United Newspapers and eventually bought 500,000 shares, representing
approximately one-third of the equity of the company. After several months as an ordinary board member, Drayton
became chairman on New Year's Day 1948.

Years of steady but unspectacular profits for United followed, enlivened by a number of small and cautious
acquisitions. Drayton realized that the directors of the company, three of whom were in their 70s, would soon have
to be replaced. Two important additions were made to the board; significantly, they were both men who had risen
through the ranks of Provincial Newspapers, a company associated with United that had been formed in 1930.

Ken Whitworth had been advertising manager of a group of local newspapers based in south London before joining
the Royal Air Force in 1939. He returned from four years as a prisoner of war in Japan to prove his business worth as
a member of several of Provincial's boards. William Barnetson had started as an editorial writer on the Edinburgh
Evening News and swiftly rose to become editor. He demonstrated his management skills on the board of the
Edinburgh paper and later on the board of Provincial. After the quiet years of the 1950s, when the United Kingdom
struggled to recover from the ravages of World War II, United Newspapers entered the 1960s with the commercially
minded Whitworth and the editorially gifted Barnetson as joint managing directors. With Harley Drayton as chairman
it was to be the first golden age of United Newspapers.

United Newspapers entered the 1960s as a wealthy company with an established stable of widely read regional
newspapers. It was to Barnetson's credit that he did not rush headlong into reckless expansion but instead
formulated a cautious acquisition strategy that relied as much on the goodwill of competitors as on his own
undoubted capacity for striking deals. United's move in 1963 to larger premises in Tudor Street was indicative of
United's imminent emergence as a major player in the U.K. newspaper industry.

In 1963 the Nelson Leader and the Colne Times, both struggling Lancashire papers, were bought by United, which
rationalized operations by transferring printing to its own underutilized plant at Burnley. Later in the same year
United sold the 49 percent stake in the Hull Daily News, held by Provincial, for £l.7 million to Associated Newspapers.
In November, United gave the Edinburgh Evening News to the Thomson group in exchange for two Sheffield papers,
the Telegraph and the Star. For Thomson it meant the end of competition for its Evening Dispatch in Edinburgh and for
United the loss of a fine paper was offset by the strengthening of its position in Yorkshire. This deal was followed by
an agreement to sell United's Yorkshire Evening News for 20 percent of the equity of the far stronger Yorkshire Post
Newspapers. Drayton adroitly realized that it was necessary to lose a battle, or at least to appear to lose a battle,

http://www.answers.com/topic/united-business-media Page 3 / 7
 to win the war. The purchase of the group of newspapers centered on the Blackpool office of the West Lancashire
Evening Gazette and further consolidated United's position in the north of England.

Harley Drayton was succeeded as chairman by William Barnetson in April 1966. Barnetson followed Drayton's
strategy and tactics when he sold the Doncaster Gazette to Yorkshire Post Newspapers in exchange for 49 percent of
a new joint venture company, Doncaster Newspapers Ltd., which was set up to publish the Doncaster Evening Post.
With Ken Whitworth's help as managing director, United introduced new economies in preparation for the company's
greatest years of expansion.

The year 1969 started quietly with the acquisition of a group of weekly papers in north London. United then took the
brave step of entering the periodicals market when Bradbury Agnew and Co., fearing hostile predators, offered its
flagship Punch, the Countryman, and a number of printing houses to the company. During the tail end of the 1960s
Punch had been suffering from a problem that was to recur with some regularity over the next 20 years. Seen as a
magazine for dentist's waiting rooms, it found itself out of step with contemporary humor, but United worked closely
with then editor William Davis to counter this problem.

While the deal with Bradbury Agnew was being finalized, United had begun to increase its shareholding in Yorkshire
Post Newspapers. In October 1969 United acquired the total equity of the group in a transaction that was more of a
mutually beneficial merger than a hostile takeover. In just one year United Newspapers had more than doubled in
size.

The 1970s saw a further period of deliberate consolidation for United Newspapers. Under Lord Barnetson the
company had become firmly established as one of the Big Four of the U.K. regional press, and acquisitions were
designed to increase further its share of the local market. When Barnetson died in 1981 his successor David
Stevens, later Lord Stevens of Ludgate, knew that if the group was to survive it would have to venture beyond
traditional areas of interest and concluded that expansion abroad was vital. He instigated a process of
rationalization that saw the closure of unprofitable papers in Sheffield, Doncaster, and Wigan and the sell-off of the
group's printing interests.

Stevens's leadership of United coincided with the rise of the 1980s media magnates. Rupert Murdoch and Robert
Maxwell did more than simply buy out the interests of the Astors, the Beaverbrooks, and the Rothermeres; they
replaced the old-fashioned newspaper proprietor with an aggressive, profit-driven businessman who was prepared
almost continually to buy and sell media interests. Stevens, with a public profile deceptively lower than that of his
major competitors, ensured that United Newspapers did not lag behind.

In January 1985 United Newspapers bought a 15 percent stake in Fleet Holdings, owner of the Daily Express, the
Sunday Express, the Star, and the Morgan Grampian Group, from Robert Maxwell's Pergamon Press. When Lord
Matthews, chairman of Fleet, refused to elect him to the board, Stevens initially launched a £223 million takeover
offer in August 1985. This was well below the price of the company's shares at the time and was accepted by less
than 1 percent of Fleet shareholders. The bid was subsequently raised to £317 million, significantly larger than the
market value of United Newspapers itself. The skills Stevens had learned as a fund manager in the City enabled him
to gain complete control of Fleet Holdings by October.

Express Newspapers gave United Newspapers its first national newspaper in 50 years, but the return to Fleet
Street was to be far from easy. The Daily Express had been losing readers in the middle market and was further hit
by the launch of Today in 1986. Numerous changes in editorial staff led to a confused editorial style, and the paper's
image problem was not helped by a steady turnover of advertising agencies.

Stevens initially reduced the number of regular employees from 6,800 to 4,700 and forced through new agreements
with the national printing unions and the paper's own chapels. In the ensuing years to 1990, the number was
further reduced to 1,700. Electronic production and direct input of copy to computers meant that the labor-intensive
process of hot metal composition could be bypassed. A ban on secondary picketing, enforced by the Employment
Acts of 1980 and 1982, further weakened the hold of the traditional printing unions, which had already been shaken
by protracted strikes and violent demonstrations in Warrington and Wapping. These measures returned the newly
acquired national papers to profitability, enabling Express Newspapers to embark on a program of investment to
ensure the future viability of its newspapers. This strategy involved the utilization of the new print technology,
investment in color presses, increased paginations, and reduced advertising proportions, with the clear aim of
improving the papers' appeal to their target audiences. By 1990 there were strong indications of the success of this
strategy, with all Express titles showing stable circulation and strong shares of their respective advertising markets.
By the end of the 1980s the Daily Express and the Daily Star were, respectively, the fourth and sixth most popular
daily titles in the United Kingdom. The Sunday Express was by far the biggest selling Sunday broadsheet paper and
the fifth most popular of all national Sunday newspapers.

Stevens's first major overseas acquisitions took place in the United States. Gralla, a family-run publisher of trade
magazines and promoter of trade shows, was bought in 1983 for $44 million. Miller Freeman, publisher of a number
of medical and computer trade magazines, was the next U.S. acquisition, followed by PR Newswire, a corporate and
financial news agency. In the domestic market, United took control of Link House Publications in 1989 in a move that
added the classified advertising paper Exchange and Mart to United's increasingly impressive list of titles.

Stevens also was determined to diversify into different markets. In 1987 Extel, a provider of financial and sporting
information, was bought for £250 million. Benn Brothers plc, producer of directories and tax guides, was bought in
1987. In 1989 the Daily Express was the last national newspaper to leave Fleet Street, moving to the other side of
the Thames River to new offices at Blackfriars Bridge.

By the beginning of the 1990s Lord Stevens had transformed United Newspapers from a publisher of regional U.K.
newspapers to a diversified media group whose additional interests included the national U.K. papers Express and
Daily Star, trade magazines, advertising publications, news services, and trade show activities. Geographically, the
company had gained a considerable presence in the United States and was expanding certain businesses--most
notably Miller Freeman and PR Newswire--into Asia. In 1995 this diversification was highlighted through the company
changing its name to United News & Media plc.

http://www.answers.com/topic/united-business-media Page 4 / 7
 Even more dramatic changes were in the cards for UNM during the remainder of the decade, under the continued
direction of Stevens. In February 1996 a £2.9 billion ($4.5 billion) merger joined the operations of UNM with those of
MAI PLC--with the combined entity retaining the United News & Media name. MAI's interests included two television
licenses in the United Kingdom for the Independent Television Network (ITV); a 29 percent stake in Channel 5, a
national commercial broadcasting service in the United Kingdom that made its on-air debut in 1997; NOP Research
Group, a market research company; and various financial services firms. MAI too had an agreement, also concluded
in February 1996, with Time Warner to partner on a £225 million ($344 million) Movie World theme park and film
studio complex to be built just west of London. But it was the extension into television broadcasting, production,
and distribution that made the MAI merger most attractive to UNM. Following the merger, the head of MAI, Clive
Hollick, became chief executive of UNM, while Stevens remained chairman.

Within just a few years of this blockbuster deal, United News & Media made a series of acquisitions and divestments
that further transformed the company. In late 1996 UNM bolstered its trade show operations through the £592.5
million ($905 million) purchase of U.K.-based Blenheim Exhibitions and Conferences Ltd., which was soon integrated
into Miller Freeman. This acquisition made UNM into the largest exhibitions group in the world. During 1997 United
News acquired HTV, a Welsh independent television broadcaster; Telecom Library, a magazine publisher and trade
show organizer in the United States; and Lemos Britto, a Brazilian trade show organizer.

In early 1998 UNM made a dramatic break from its past with the divestment of its regional newspaper business
through three separate sales, totaling £450 million ($700 million). In November of that same year, the company
demerged the financial services businesses inherited from MAI into a separate public company called Garban plc.
These moves left a more focused UNM, with three main business segments: business services, which included Miller
Freeman, PR Newswire, and market research operations NOP and Mediamark Research; broadcasting and
entertainment, which included the independent television licenses, the Channel 5 stake, and television show
production and distribution activities; and consumer publishing, which included the Express and the Daily Star
national U.K. newspapers and advertising periodicals in the United States and the United Kingdom. In the late 1990s
more than half of the company's revenues were generated by business services, which was also UNM's most
profitable sector.

During 1999 Ronald Hampel, former CEO and chairman of Imperial Chemical Industries plc, succeeded Stevens as
chairman. That year, UNM made several more acquisitions, with the deals bolstering core operations and highlighting
an ongoing interest in U.S. growth and an increasing interest in Internet-based opportunities. In January, United
News & Media--through PR Newswire--acquired NEWSdesk International, a leading European Internet distributor of
corporate news for the high-tech industry. Two months later UNM spent $42.5 million for Audits & Surveys Worldwide
Inc., a leading U.S. market research firm, and $111 million for Continuing Medical Education, Inc., a provider of
continuing medical education resources for U.S. physicians, including conferences and seminars, trade magazines,
home study products, and web sites. Then in June, United News purchased CMP Media Inc. for $920 million. The
Manhassat, New York-based CMP's operations included the publication of such high-tech trade magazines as
Information Week, Computer Reseller News, and Electronic Engineering Times, and the maintenance of 40 online web
sites, including TechWeb and ChannelWeb. CMP became a part of Miller Freeman but maintained a separate identity.

The company's transformation into a focused business publisher and provider of business services reached its
culmination in 2000, with the process being launched in the final months of the preceding year. In November 1999
UNM announced its intention to divest a number of businesses in order to create a more focused group. In March
2000 Visual Communications Group, a stock photo library acquired in 1994, was sold to Getty Images, Inc. for $220
million. UNM's U.S. advertising periodicals business, UAP, Inc., was sold in May to Trader Publishing Company for
$520 million; United Advertising Publications plc, the U.K. advertising periodicals unit, was retained. Two months
later, the U.S. side of Miller Freeman--minus CMP Media--was sold to the Dutch publisher VNU N.V. for $650 million,
and Miller Freeman Europe was sold to Reed Elsevier for £360 million.

As these disposals were being made, there were also significant developments with the company's television
assets. In November 1999 UNM reached an agreement with Carlton Communications plc, another ITV licensee, on an
£8 billion ($12.6 billion) merger. U.K. regulators gave conditional approval to the merger, requiring that the combined
company divest one of its ITV licenses. This led to the collapse of the merger. UNM also discussed a merger with
Granada Media plc, a third ITV licensee. In the end, however, United News & Media elected to sell off its three ITV
licenses and related assets to Granada for £1.75 billion, in a deal completed in December 2000. UNM retained stakes
in several television and related businesses, including its stake in Channel 5, which had been increased to 35
percent in January 2000; a 20 percent stake in Independent Television News Limited, a news provider; and a 33
percent interest in SDN Limited, a digital multiplex operator.

Soon after deciding to sell the ITV licenses, UNM made another important decision: It would sell off its remaining
newspaper interests in order to focus fully on business publishing and services. In November 2000 the Express
Newspapers unit was sold to the Northern & Shell Group for £125 million. This brought the total for the year's
disposals to £3.2 billion. To emphasize the change in focus the company changed its name to United Business Media
plc. Of the proceeds, portions were earmarked for debt reduction and future acquisitions, with £1.25 billion returned
to shareholders in April 2001.

UBM emerged from the whirlwind of activities in 2000 as a major player in professional media, news distribution, and
market research. The balance of operations had shifted significantly toward the United States, with 75 percent of
operating profit now originating in North America. The U.S. focus was enhanced with the completion of two major
acquisitions in 2001: the June purchase of Allison-Fisher International, Inc. for $45 million and the August buyout of
Roper Starch Worldwide LLC for $88 million. Based in Detroit, Michigan, Allison-Fisher was the leading supplier of
syndicated market research for the automotive industry. Roper Starch, based in New York City, was a leading U.S.
consumer market research firm. It was merged with Audit & Surveys Worldwide to form RoperASW. UBM also offered
to acquire MediaLink Worldwide Inc., a New York company specializing in video news releases, but was rebuffed.

Unfortunately, the UBM era got off to a rough start thanks to the economic downturn that began in 2001. Magazine
publishers were hit hard as companies sharply cut back on their advertising, and the high-tech oriented CMP Media
suffered a stiffer blow than most--because of the tech stock implosion--and had to endure a 26 percent drop in ad

http://www.answers.com/topic/united-business-media Page 5 / 7
 pages during 2001. To stem losses and cut operating costs, the workforce was slashed, with 1,400 jobs shed during
the year. Operating profits on continuing businesses fell 50 percent over the previous year and stood at £81.1
million. Including restructuring and other charges that totaled £448.9 million, UBM reported a pretax loss of £541.2
million. The operating environment continued to be a rough one in 2002, leading the company to announce the
elimination of a further 500 positions, with large reductions at CMP Media and PR Newswire. The latter was suffering
from a serious downturn in the volume of press releases because of the economic sluggishness; the severe drop in
mergers, acquisitions, and IPOs; and the fallout from the wave of corporate scandals, which led companies to be
more publicity adverse than usual. As UBM awaited a turnaround in the advertising market that might mark a return
to profitability, Hampel retired as chairman in October 2002, with longtime board member Geoff Unwin assuming his
position.

Principal Subsidiaries

BUSINESS TO BUSINESS MEDIA: CMP Media, LLC (U.S.A.); CMP Europe Ltd.; CMP Information Ltd.; CMP Asia Ltd.
(Hong Kong); United Entertainment Media, Inc. (U.S.A.); Expoconsult B.V. (Netherlands); PR Newswire Association,
Inc. (U.S.A.); PR Newswire Europe Ltd.; Audits & Surveys Worldwide, Inc. (U.S.A.); MMI Holdings, Inc. (U.S.A.);
Mediamark Research, Inc. (U.S.A.); NOP Research Group Ltd.; RoperASW LLC (U.S.A.). CONSUMER MEDIA: United
Advertising Publications plc. HEAD OFFICE: United Finance Ltd.; United Finance (Jersey) Ltd.; United Business Media
Finance, Inc. (U.S.A.); United Business Media (Jersey) Ltd.

Principal Divisions

Market Research; News Distribution; Professional Media.

Principal Competitors

VNU N.V.; International Data Group; Reed Elsevier Group plc; ACNielsen Corporation; Taylor Nelson Sofres plc;
Information Resources, Inc.; NFO WorldGroup, Inc.; Ziff Davis Media Inc.; Advanstar Communications Inc.; CNET
Networks, Inc.; Key3Media Group, Inc.; Business Wire.

Further Reading

Davidson, Andrew, "Lord Stevens," Management Today, March 1995, pp. 53-54, 56.

Gapper, John, "Arculus Chooses a Tricky Moment to Go," Financial Times, February 14, 1998, p. 21.

------, "United News Shares Slip on Demerger Plans," Financial Times, July 24, 1998, p. 24.

Great Britain, Monopolies and Mergers Commission, EMAP plc and United Newspapers plc: A Report on the Proposed
Transfers of Controlling Interests As Defined in Section 57(4) of the Fair Trading Act 1973 and of the Business of
Publishing and Distributing Three Newspapers Owned by EMAP plc to United Newspapers plc, London: HMSO, 1992, 82 p.

Harding, James, and Ashling O'Connor, "Failed Merger Leads to a Scattering of the Assets," Financial Times, July 22,
2000, p. 14.

Harverson, Patrick, and Raymond Snoddy, "Express in £3Bn Merger Deal with TV Group MAI," Financial Times,
February 9, 1996, p. 1.

Isaac, Debra, "The News at United," Management Today, July 1985, pp. 42+.

Jenkins, Simon, The Market for Glory: Fleet Street Ownership in the Twentieth Century, London: Faber and Faber, 1986.

Koss, Stephen, The Rise and Fall of the Political Press in Britain, 2 vols., London: Hamish Hamilton, 1991-1994.

Newman, Cathy, "Southnews Pays £47.5m for United Southern Arm," Financial Times, February 19, 1998, p. 21.

------, "Three-Way Split for United Media Sale," Financial Times, January 8, 1998, p. 23.

------, "United Sells Regional Titles for £450m," Financial Times, February 28, 1998, p. 18.

O'Connor, Ashling, "The Barclays Could Receive an Express Delivery," Financial Times, October 7, 2000, p. 16.

------, "Desmond Wants It All 'OK!' at the Express," Financial Times, November 23, 2000, p. 28.

------, "United Business Ready for U.S. Buying Spree," Financial Times, February 28, 2001, p. 25.

------, "United News Sells Unit to Reed Elsevier," Financial Times, July 26, 2000, p. 24.

Parker-Pope, Tara, and Sara Calian, "Joie de Screamer: Time Warner Plans More U.S.-Style Thrills for Europe," Wall
Street Journal, February 14, 1996, p. B8.

Price, Christopher, "Lord Stevens Prepares to Wind Down," Financial Times, November 13, 1996, p. 22.

------, "United News Agreed Bid Values HTV at £371m," Financial Times, June 28, 1997, p. 20.

Rich, Motoko, "United's Swift Move Wins Battle of Blenheim," Financial Times, October 16, 1996, p. 30.

Saatchi & Saatchi, Top Fifty European Media Owners, London: Saatchi & Saatchi Communications, 1989.

http://www.answers.com/topic/united-business-media Page 6 / 7
 Schofield, Guy, The Men That Carry the News: A History of United Newspapers Limited, London: Cranford Press, 1975,
201 p.

Snoddy, Raymond, "Battle for Channel 5 Won by MAI and Pearson," Financial Times, October 28, 1995, p. 1.

------, "Lord Stevens Looks to a Richer Future," Financial Times, April 10, 1995, p. 10.

------, "TV Contestants on Their Marks," Financial Times, February 9, 1996, p. 15.

Snoddy, Raymond, Scheherazade Daneshkhu, and Alice Rawsthorn, "MAI to Join Time Warner in £225m Film Theme
Park," Financial Times, February 13, 1996, p. 1.

Taylor, A.J.P., "Lloyd George: Rise and Fall," in Essays in English History, London: Hamish Hamilton, 1976.

Wheatcroft, Patience, "The Human Factor," Management Today, October 2000, p. 33.

— Andreas Loizou; Updated by David E. Salamie

Related topics:
UBM Technology (Subsidiary Company)
UBM (technology)
CMP (technology)

Post a question - any question - to the WikiAnswers community:

Copyrights:

Hoover's Company Profiles. © 2011 Hoover's, Inc. All rights reserved.  Read

more

TechEncyclopedia. THIS DEFINITION IS FOR PERSONAL USE ONLY.

All other reproduction is strictly prohibited without permission from the publisher.
© 1981-2011 The Computer Language Company Inc.  All rights reserved.  Read
more

Gale Directory of Company Histories. International Directory of Company

Histories. Copyright © 2006 by The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.  Read more

Site Company Legal Tools Community Updates

Sitemap About Terms of Use 1-Click Answers Guidelines Email
ReferenceAnswers Jobs Privacy Policy AnswerTips Reputation Watchlist
WikiAnswers Press IP Issues Webmasters Roles RSS
VideoAnswers Disclaimer Apps/Add-o n s Help Blog
Coupons
Guides

International Sites English Deutsch Español Français Italiano Tagalog

Copyright © 2011 Answers Corporation

http://www.answers.com/topic/united-business-media Page 7 / 7