New York, NY, January 23, 2004 PBI Media, LLC, a leader in high-value information products and consulting services for the telecom, aerospace, and media markets, today announced its purchase of the Chemical Business Services of SRI Consulting, the leading producer of high-value information and data for the global chemicals industry.

In conjunction with the acquisition, PBI Media also announced an agreement by which it will merge with Chemical Week Associates. PBI Media management will lead the combined companies. Chemical Week Associates is well established in the marketplace through its leading magazines Chemical Week and Chemical Engineering, as well as conferences, newsletters, and tradeshows.

Veronis Suhler Stevenson represented PBI Media in both transactions. Chemical Week Associates and PBI Media are portfolio companies of Veronis Suhler Stevenson's private equity affiliate. Terms of the agreements were not disclosed.

“PBI Media's acquisition of SRI Consulting's Chemical Business Services and merger with Chemical Week Associates will result in a marketing and information powerhouse,” said Don Pazour, CEO of PBI Media. “The knowledge base and resources they offer provide us with an opportunity to build new products and services for our customers in print, in person and on-line.” While the newly formed Chemical Division will share management with other PBI operations, the Division, managed by Don Pazour, will maintain its own focus and identity.

“The new Chemical Division of PBI is an ideal home for SRI Consulting's chemical industry products,” said SRI Consulting CEO Joseph J. Esposito. “As we continue to provide our longstanding customers with subscription-based products and other reports, Chemical Week and Chemical Engineering offer valuable resources for enhanced product offerings and delivery.”

Added Malcolm Netburn, interim CEO/President of Chemical Week Associates, “We are very excited about joining forces with PBI and SRI Consulting. It's an excellent match of capabilities that will offer the marketplace a compelling suite of products and services.”

Synergies among the companies include, for example, the shared market served by Chemical Week Associates' Chemical Engineering magazine and SRI Consulting's Process Economics Program (PEP). Chemical engineers, the primary readers of the number one magazine in the market, Chemical Engineering, are also the primary purchasers of PEP, which provides technical and economic evaluations of chemical process technologies .

Jeffrey Stevenson, Managing Partner of Veronis Suhler Stevenson, elaborated. “The merger of SRI Consulting's Chemical Business Services with the combined PBI Media and Chemical Week Associates creates an opportunity for significant revenue synergies as the companies leverage one another's strengths.”

John Pearson has been named CEO of PBI Media's SRIC Chemical Business Services division, effective immediately. Mr. Pearson has managed information businesses in the healthcare and electronic markets for many years. Most recently, he has been working in the pulp and paper industry as an advisor to the Board of PaperLoop, and prior to that as Senior Vice President in charge of all paper information businesses for Miller Freeman, Inc. Malcolm Netburn will continue his role as interim CEO/President of Chemical Week Associates.

SRI Consulting's Chemical Business Services Division will continue to be based in Menlo Park , California , Chemical Week Associates will continue its publishing operations in New York , and PBI Media will continue to be headquartered in Potomac , Maryland .

About SRI Consulting's Chemical Business Services

SRI Consulting's Chemical Business Services provides the world's most comprehensive ongoing databases on the chemical industries. Its core products, including the Chemical Economics Handbook (published since 1950), the Directory of Chemical Producers and the Process Economics Program, have been highly valued by chemical companies for decades. Companies participate in ongoing multi-client programs through annual subscriptions, or they may purchase individual reports. SRI Consulting is a wholly owned subsidiary of SRI International, the world-renowned research institute.

About Chemical Week Associates

Chemical Week Associates (CWA) is a worldwide media group dedicated to serving the needs of the global chemical business and related industries. Comprised of publications, conferences, newsletters and on-line services, CWA is the industry's most authoritative source of news and information. Highly regarded among industry leaders, CWA and its properties are where decision-makers go for strategic ideas, effective answers and real solutions. Covering the entire chemical industry spectrum from exploration to end use markets, CWA publications include Chemical Week, Chemical Engineering, and Pristine Processing.

About PBI Media

PBI Media, LLC is a full-service global information and marketing solutions provider of competitive business-to-business information. The company publishes daily news services, premium-value newsletters, subscription-based web sites, magazines, directories, and databases. PBI‘s products include Cable World , CableFax Daily , Avionics , Rotor & Wing , Via Satellite , the Satellite 2004 trade show, AV Video Multimedia Producer and Defense Daily. PBI Media also publishes or distributes more than 100 studies, manuals and market research reports.

About Veronis Suhler Stevenson

Veronis Suhler Stevenson is a leading independent merchant bank dedicated to the media, communications and information industries. Veronis Suhler Stevenson has completed over 600 transactions since its inception in 1981. The firm has acted as a financial advisor across the full spectrum of media, communication and information segments and provides the following services: mergers & acquisitions advisory services and private equity investment. VS&A Communications Partners III, LP is the third private equity fund managed by Veronis Suhler Stevenson. Capitalized at $1 billion, it is one of the largest private equity funds dedicated exclusively to investments in the media, communications and information industries. The VSS Private Equity buyout funds have invested in 33 platform companies and 145 add-on acquisitions, across multiple media segments; the realized and unrealized enterprise value of these investments total approximately $7 billion.

Contacts:

Veronis Suhler Stevenson

Stanton Crenshaw Communications