TULSA, OK May 21, 2007 — PennWell Corporation, a diversified global media and information company, announced today that is has acquired Utility Products magazine from TKM Communications Inc., based in Birmingham, Ala. Utility Products is a monthly business-to-business publication covering the power, telecommunications and cable TV product markets. Financial terms of the sale were not disclosed.
Founded in 1997, Utility Products is the leading resource for purchasers, decision makers, fleet managers and product specifiers in the power, cable and telecommunications industries. Its circulation of 50,000 spans electric utilities, municipalities, telephone companies, cable TV companies, and the contractors who serve those individual market segments.
PennWell President and Chief Executive Officer Robert F. Biolchini, said, “This acquisition is a strategic fit with our global portfolio of publications and events serving electric utilities and related markets. We are pleased that the first issue under PennWell — June 2007 — marks the tenth anniversary issue of this magazine and we look forward to its continued expansion under PennWell.”
The sales and editorial staffs of the publication will remain in Birmingham, Ala., under the management of Michael Grossman, Group Publisher, who is based in PennWell Corporation’s Tulsa, Okla., headquarters. Brig Bearden, founder of Utility Products and president of TKM Communications, will serve as Publisher Emeritus.
Utility Products will complement PennWell’s established electric power industry trade magazines, Electric Light & Power and Utility Automation & Engineering T&D, giving PennWell Corporation unparalleled reach into the power and telecom industries. PennWell also owns and conducts the annual DistribuTECH conference and exhibition, which is the leading utility industry event encompassing automation and control systems, IT, transmission & distribution engineering, power delivery equipment and water utility technology. DistribuTECH serves over 280 exhibitors and 4,600 attendees with the next event scheduled for January 22-24, 2008 in Tampa, Fla.
