May 30, 2003
MALVERN, PA - PBP of Malvern, PA announced today that it acquired Oakstone Legal & Business Publishing (Oakstone L&B) of Burnside, MN and Wayne, PA, a division of Haights Cross Communications of White Plains, NY. Haights Cross was represented in the transaction by the mergers and acquisitions advisory firm of Whitestone Communications. This transaction expands PBP into the vast public and private educational sectors, as well as broadens its coverage for human resource managers.
PBP, an information services provider for leading businesses, currently produces 28 subscription newsletters and other publications for a wide variety of disciplines including finance, government compliance, sales & marketing, human resources, medical, information technology and non-profits. Oakstone L&B publishes 26 specialized publications and a variety of reports on key legal issues, bringing a better understanding to educational institutions and businesses of their legal rights and responsibilities to help them avoid costly mistakes and ensure compliance with the law.
"This acquisition brings PBP into two new markets - education and legal," said Ed Satell, president of PBP, "and expands the quality and breadth of services we currently provide. With this move, we are positioned to meet the needs of even more industries and professions, providing them with the quality, quick-read information required in today's competitive environment to stay ahead of the competition."
Tom Schubert, CFO of PBP, stated, "Oakstone products and services fit our profile. In addition, they utilized a sales model similar to ours. This will allow us to leverage our existing expertise." Most of Oakstone L&B operations will merge into PBP's and the majority of their distinctive editorial team will be maintained.
PBP is a privately-owned company founded in 1989 with the launch of a single publication. Today, PBP focuses on serving the specialized business information needs of well over 125,000 companies with its 28 newsletters, 10 specialized office equipment publications, 80 annual conferences and 50 annual seminars.
