UBM plc on Friday announced that it that it has reached agreement to divest its electronics media portfolio to an affiliate of electronics distributor Arrow Electronics Inc. for a cash consideration of $23.5 million.
The portfolio comprises the U.S. and Asian versions of EE Times, EDN, ESM, Embedded, EBN, TechOnline, and Datasheets.com. UBM said that in 2015 these assets generated revenues of $19 million: $16 million online and $3 million in print. The sale is subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory clearance in China.
EDN and related publications have been through several ownership changes over the years. I began my career in technical journalism at EDN in 1980. At the time the parent company continued to carry the “Cahners” brand, but founder Norman Cahners had already sold the company to the British entity that would become Reed Business Information. Reed subsequently sold EDN and other magazines to Canon, which in turn was bought by UBM. The magazines had operated under three different owners in less than a year prior to my move to EE-Evaluation Engineering in 2011.
Kevin Morris at Electronic Engineering Journal called Friday a sad day for the electronics trade press, likening the divestiture of the publications to the dropping off of an unwanted pet at an animal shelter.
Tim Cobbold, CEO of UBM plc, said in a press release, “In line with our ‘Events First’ strategy, this transaction further improves the alignment between our portfolio of events and other marketing services.”
