Reed Divests 21 Brands, Many in Construction Segment, Detailed in Letter

Letter to Staff, Reprinted from FishbowlNY, Alex Alvarez

Dear Colleague,

I am writing to you today to inform you of the status of our divestments in Reed Business Information-US.

Since announcing our plans last summer we have successfully sold 21 brands, representing approximately two thirds of the revenues of the portfolio to be divested:

Broadcasting & Cable, Casual Living, Design News, EDN, Furniture Today, Gifts & Decorative Accessories, Home Accents Today, Home Textiles Today, In-Stat, Interior Design, Kids Today, Library Hotline, Library Journal, Multichannel News, Packaging Digest, Playthings, Publishers Weekly, School Library Journal, Test & Measurement World, TRACOM, and TWICE.

As I originally explained, Reed Construction Data, RSMeans, BuyerZone, Variety, Marketcast and 411 Publishing will all remain part of Reed Business Information. In addition, we have transferred other RBI-US brands within Reed Elsevier. JCK has become part of Reed Exhibitions, and DM2 has now joined with Mardev to form a new global list management operation.

After nine months of concerted efforts by John Poulin, Jeff DeBalko and their teams, we have decided we must now conclude the divestment process for the remainder of RBI-US. Effective immediately, we are closing the publishing operations of the following titles that remain unsold:

Building Design+Construction, Chain Leader, Construction Bulletin, Construction Equipment, Consulting-Specifying Engineer, Control Engineering, Converting, Foodservice Equipment & Supplies, Graphic Arts Blue Book, Graphics Arts Monthly, HOTELS, Logistics Management, Material Handling Product News, Modern Materials Handling, Plant Engineering, Professional Builder, Professional Remodeler, Purchasing, Restaurants & Institutions, Semiconductor International, Spec Check, Supply Chain Management Review and Tradeshow Week.

These publications have had very experienced, professional and committed teams running them in the most difficult of circumstances. However, their trading performances have been under pressure for some time and the impact of the recession and media migration in the markets for these titles is such that we cannot see our way back to profitable growth.

This is very sad for all of us in the RBI community and I wish colleagues at these titles the very best for the future and thank them for their services to readers, advertisers and the company. I also want to thank John Poulin, RBI-US CEO, and Jeff DeBalko, RBI-US Business Media President and Chief Internet Officer, as well as their entire divestment team for playing a focused and dedicated role in guiding the sale process. I know they have done their utmost to find new owners for these publications.

Please note that if you are personally affected by these closures, you will be receiving further details about this transition from John Poulin and your Human Resources department.

Yours sincerely
Keith Jones
CEO, Reed Business Information