Reed Elsevier Business Information Changes Name to Cahners Business Information

Posted on March 3, 1998

Reed Elsevier Business Information, a leading U.S. provider of business information, announced that it has renamed itself Cahners Business Information. The name change culminates a six-month period of rapid growth in which the company doubled its size and number of employees.

The company was known as Cahners Publishing Company until last June, when President and Chief Executive Officer Bruce A. Barnet announced the acquisition of Chilton Business Group. At that time, the name Reed Elsevier Business Information was chosen for the combined entity. The name was selected because it incorporated the name of REBI's parent company, international British-Dutch publishing giant Reed Elsevier.

A second significant event occurred on October 1997. Reed Elsevier announced plans to merge with Wolters Kluwer, the Netherlands-based multinational publisher of business and professional information, which meant that the name of the parent company would probably change. Then, in January, Reed Elsevier brought two major divisions of its former Reed Travel Group under Barnet's leadership.

Research confirmed that the marketplace had an extremely positive perception of the company, and was aware of its expanding size and scope, Barnet said. "We decided to again embrace our traditional name and to add 'Business Information' to reflect our wide range of products, from magazines to web services to research to databases."

Some of Cahners' better-known magazines are Variety, Publishers Weekly, Frequent Flyer, Design News, Multichannel News, Restaurants and Institutions, Automotive Industries, Broadcasting & Cable, Travel Weekly and Interior Design.