2008 News Releases

United Business Media acquires Pyramid Research for $8m

27 August

Expands services for telecoms industry; complements existing market research capability

United Business Media today announces that it has acquired Pyramid Research from its shareholders on behalf of its TechWeb business (www.techweb.com) for a total cash consideration of $8m.

Pyramid Research (www.pyr.com) is a leading provider of subscription market information, analysis and forecasting services to the global telecom industry. Pyramid bases its services on its proprietary “bottom up” quantitative data drawn from around 70 national markets worldwide. These services are subscribed for by telecoms network infrastructure providers (carriers) and telecoms technology suppliers, particularly those in emerging markets; more than two thirds of Pyramid’s sales are made outside the US.

Pyramid’s services are highly complementary to those of TechWeb’s existing telecoms industry market research unit, Heavy Reading (www.heavyreading.com). Heavy Reading’s “top down” technology and business strategy analysis and advisory services are based on detailed interviews with vendors and carriers. With more than two thirds of its revenue being generated beyond the US, Pyramid is also well-placed to benefit from the anticipated growth in worldwide telecoms markets as well as providing an ideal platform for the internationalisation of the Heavy Reading product portfolio.

Pyramid Research employs almost 50 staff at its headquarters in Cambridge, MA and has offices in London, Hong Kong, Miami and Seattle. Pyramid’s 2007 revenues were approximately $7.6m. The acquisition is anticipated to meet UBM's 8% post-tax cost of capital acquisition criterion in its first full year of ownership.

The acquisition is subject to Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations (TUPE) consultation. The transaction is expected to close within the next few weeks, following completion of the consultation process.

Tony Uphoff, Chief Executive of TechWeb said:

“This is a great acquisition for us. Pyramid provides a valuable set of data-based subscription products that is extremely complementary to our existing telecom industry intelligence products from our Heavy Reading business. The addition of Pyramid will accelerate our growth in the telecom industry research area, broadening Heavy Reading’s reach beyond its core US markets into growth areas such as EMEA and Latin America.”

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Notes to Editors
1. About United Business Media
United Business Media is a leading global business media company. We inform markets and bring the world’s buyers and sellers together at events, online, in print, and with the information they need to do business successfully. We focus on serving professional commercial communities, from doctors to game developers, from journalists to jewellery traders, from farmers to pharmacists around the world. Our 5,000 staff in more than 30 countries are organised into specialist teams that serve these communities, helping them to do business and their markets to work effectively and efficiently. For more information, go to www.unitedbusinessmedia.com.

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