With the acquisition Hanley Wood achieves two corporate objectives: entry into the data business, which further strengthens and expands the company’s industry-leading portfolio of media properties; and $200 million in annual revenue, a strategic growth milestone set five years ago when the then $100 million Hanley Wood was acquired by the private equity firm Veronis Suhler Stevenson.

In business for 20 years, Meyers Group is recognized for providing reliable information and advisory services on the new home market to builders, developers, lenders and building product manufacturers. The housing industry uses Meyers Group information and consulting services to make critical business decisions on everything from new-home design and construction financing to geographic expansion and pricing strategy.

“The theme at this year’s American Business Media annual meeting was rich data, so it’s clear that providing high-value, hard-to-get industry data is something leading business media companies are focused on delivering,” said Michael Wood, Hanley Wood CEO. “We have been talking to the Meyers Group for five years and are very excited to finally close this deal.”

Jeff Meyers, founder and CEO of Meyers Group, along with his management team, will stay on to run the business. “We’re incredibly pleased to become part of Hanley Wood,” said Meyers. “When we talked about selling the company, our first choice was Hanley Wood, because they are so dominant in the housing industry. Everybody we know reads BUILDER magazine, and all of our biggest customers attend the BUILDER 100 and BIG BUILDER conferences each year. Being acquired by a firm with Hanley Wood’s reputation and experience will allow us to accelerate our strategic expansion into new markets and develop new products and services to meet the industry’s needs.”

Meyers Group has 13 offices around the country and is headquartered in Costa Mesa, Calif. Meyers Group was owned by Amstar Group, Ltd., a real estate-oriented private equity firm in Denver. Meyers Group covers 75 of the top U.S. markets and incorporates the nation’s largest data warehouse and most experienced consultants.

About Hanley Wood
Hanley Wood, LLC, is the premier media company serving housing and construction. Through five operating divisions, the company produces award-winning magazines and Web sites, marquee trade shows and events, rich data and custom marketing solutions. The company also is North America’s leading provider of home plans.

Founded in 1976, Hanley Wood is a $200 million company owned by VS&A Communications Partners III, LP, the private-equity affiliate of media industry merchant bank Veronis Suhler Stevenson.

About Veronis Suhler Stevenson
Veronis Suhler Stevenson is a leading independent merchant bank dedicated to the media, communications and information industries and has completed over 630 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: private equity, mezzanine investment and mergers & acquisitions advisory services. VS&A Communications Partners III, LP is the third private equity fund managed by Veronis Suhler Stevenson. Capitalized at over $1 billion, it is one of the largest private equity funds dedicated exclusively to investments in the media, communications and information industries. VSS Mezzanine Partners, L.P. provides mezzanine capital for the financing of acquisitions, management buyouts, going-private transactions, growth equity investments, and recapitalizations. The VSS Private Equity buyout funds have invested in 33 platform companies and 154 add-on acquisitions, across multiple media segments; the realized and unrealized enterprise value of these investments total approximately $7 billion.

Contacts:

Marketing Director
Veronis Suhler Stevenson

Vice President, Marketing
Hanley Wood Magazines

Stanton Crenshaw Communications