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 That deal apparently does not include Purchasing magazine, which was not part of the SCM group. If it does not find a buyer, it means the market will not at present have a free "controlled circulation" magazine.
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Update May 5, 2010: It was announced last week that the magazines in the Reed Supply Chain Group (Supply Chain Management Review, Modern Materials Handling, Materials Handling Product News, and Logistics Management) would in facrt be continued under a new group called Peerless Media, a unit that will be majority owned by EH Publishing, a Boston-area publisher of magazines mostly related to home electronics.
The group says the magazines will continue on without missing a beat or a hardcopy issue, and that its management and editorial staff will largely stay intact.
As of this writing, the web sites were not yet operational for any of the publications, and are certainly being redeveloped probably using EH's web services rather than the web infrastucture that had been provided by Reed.
As of yet, there has been no announcement about any revival of Purchasing magazine, and its web site is now gone.
Update April 29, 2010: Though news came this weekend that a deal for the Reed Supply Chain Group was close to conclusion, as of this article, no formal announcement has been made, and the respective web sites of the publications are slated to close at end of business tomorrow, April 30, accoiding to announcements still on each site.
While this is somewhat "inside baseball," SCDigest has learned that a company called EH Publishing, which currently produces a series of magazines around consumer electronics and "the connected home," is the backer of the effort to buy and continue this group of publications. Like the Reed Supply Chain Group, EH is also headquartered in Boston. However, EH is said to be unable or unwilling to fund the full deal, which would include some payment to Reed as well as the capital to get the group back going again outside of Reed. So, a piece of outsiding funding is also required to pull the deal together. The initial reports of the deal said it would close "by the end of the month," which leaves one day. We still expect some type of deal and arrangment to by achieved, but there must be some complications in getting it done.
Original Story:
A week after the suprise announcement that some of the biggest magazine names in the supply chain management were closing, word is out that most of the Reed Business Information Systems titles would be re-opening under new ownership.
On April 16, Reed Business Information (RBI), a division of British information giant Reed Elsevier, announced it was closing the last 23 of its remain US trade publications, which included some of the most recognized magazine names in the industry:
- Supply Chain Management Review
- Modern Materials Handling
- Logistics Management
- Purchasing
- Material Handling Product News
The announcement caught both the management and editors of the affected publications by surprise, as well as others in the industry. While the hardcopy trade publication environment remains a very tough economic one, a number of inquiries were made to Reed about the supply chain titles - likely some in part looking to acquire subsriber lists or other assets on the cheap.
Rumors were that existing management spent last week looking to put together some type of deal, which would require outside funding.
Over the weekend, news came that such a deal had been struck.
Brian Ceraolo, the Reed Supply Chain Group publisher, has formed a new company, Peerless Media, along with the former management team. Peerless has reached an agreement in principal with Reed Elsevier to acquire the four Supply Chain Group brands: Logistics Management, Modern Materials Handling, Supply Chain Management Review and Material Handling Product News.
That deal apparently does not include Purchasing magazine, which was not part of the SCM group. If it does not find a buyer, it means the market will not at present have a free "controlled circulation" magazine. The Institute for Supply Management's Inside Supply Management required ISM membership or a paid subscription.
A more formal announcement of some kind is expected at North American Material Handling Show, starting April 26th in Cleveland, which is in the wheelhouse of Modern Materials Handling subject matter. Clearly there would have been a strong incentive for the group to make an announcement and support its booth at the show.
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