New York, NY -- November 17, 2000. Cahners Business Information, a member of the Reed Elsevier plc group (NYSE: RUK and ENL), today announced that it has organized its business into three new market sector-focused divisions, each headed by a newly appointed president. This represents the next step in the company's strategy to transform itself into a market sector-focused, media-neutral publisher and provider of critical information and marketing solutions to business professionals.
"The decision to realign our business units follows on the heels of other strategic moves," said Cahners' president and CEO Marc Teren. "These include the acquisitions of eLogic, a world-class ASP, and the CMD Group, the leading provider of proprietary construction market data, as well as the formation of Cahners Digital, which more aggressively enables the launch of our vertical industry portals and Webzines. Today's move will allow us to further fine-tune our market sector focus, and better position us to identify and respond to market opportunities and our customer's needs."
The new market sector breakout, by division, is as follows:
Manufacturing and Electronics, including the Manufacturing Products and Processes, Design, Electronics, Supply Chain, Printing and Packaging Groups. Jeff Greisch, former EVP of the Electronics, Design, Supply Chain, and Automotive/Trucking Groups, is appointed president of the Manufacturing and Electronics Division, with market-leading magazines that include EDN, Design News, ECN, Purchasing and Graphic Arts Monthly, as well as the leading electronics industry portal, e-inSITE.net. Greisch has been with Cahners since August 1994. Prior to his career at Cahners, Greisch spent 12 years with Capital Cities/ABC's Fairchild Publications.
Media, including the Variety, TV & Telecommunications, and Publishing Groups. Tad Smith, former president of the Cahners Digital Group, is appointed president of the Media Division, with market-leading magazines which include Variety, Broadcasting & Cable, Publishers Weekly, and Multichannel News, the leading entertainment industry portal, Variety.com. In addition to Smith's division president responsibilities, Cahners Digital and eLogic will continue to report to him. Before joining Cahners in May, Smith's background included leadership positions within Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, BMG Entertainment, and before that, McKinsey & Company, where he built its West Coast entertainment practice.
Construction and Retail including the Building & Construction, Interior Design, Retail and Hospitality Groups, and the recently acquired Construction Market Data (CMD) Group. David Israel, former president and CEO of Classified Ventures, Inc. - the creator of the premier sales channel for online classified advertising - is appointed president of the Construction and Retail Division, with market-leading magazines that include Interior Design, Restaurants & Institutions, Furniture/Today, and Professional Builder, as well as the leading construction industry portals, housingzone.com and buildingteam.com. In addition, Cahners Operations and IT will report to him. Israel joins Cahners with more than 20 years experience in both traditional and new media publishing, operations, marketing and sales. Prior to joining Classified Ventures, Israel was president of Macmillan Computer Publishing USA.
All division presidents report directly to Cahners president and CEO Marc Teren. Brian Nairn, former president of Cahners Publishing Group and COO, is being promoted within Reed Elsevier to a new CEO position at Elsevier Science, effective January 1, 2001, where he will be involved initially in the integration of the newly acquired Harcourt company.
About Cahners
Cahners Business Information www.cahners.com, a member of the Reed Elsevier plc group, is North America's leading provider of business information to 17 vertical markets, including media, manufacturing, electronics, construction and retail. Cahners' rich content portfolio includes Variety, Publishers Weekly, Design News, and more than 150 other market-leading, business-to-business magazines and Web sites. Cahners developed the leading business-to-business Web portals e-inSITE.net in the electronics industry, Manufacturing.Net in manufacturing and Buildingteam.com in construction, and maintains an active program of Internet and print launches.
About Reed Elsevier
Reed Elsevier plc is a world leading publisher and information provider. It is owned equally by Reed International P.L.C (NYSE: RUK) and Elsevier NV (NYSE: ENL). Operating in the scientific, legal and business-to-business industry sectors, Reed Elsevier provides high value and flexible information solutions to professional end users, with increasing emphasis on the Internet as a delivery method. Building on its strong position in key markets and its established brands and content, the company is investing aggressively in the migration of its portfolio to electronic delivery, with links to a wider range of content-related services and transactional capabilities.
Note: Individual press releases announcing the appointments of Jeff Greisch, Tad Smith and David Israel can be found in the "For the Press" section at www.cahners.com.
