NEW YORK -- (January 16, 1998) - VS&A Communications Partners II, L.P. and Canon Communications LLC announced today that Canon Communications has acquired Abby Communications, publisher of Injection Molding Magazine and Injection Moulding International and sponsor of various plastics training seminars and conferences through its joint venture with Techtrax LLC. In addition, over the last several months, Canon Communications has acquired Pharmaceutical & Medical Packaging News magazine and the Medical Packaging Symposium from O & B Communications, as well as the Atlantic Design Engineering and Pacific Design Engineering shows from Exposition Excellence Corporation (EEC).

Canon Communications LLC is a leading business-to-business magazine publisher and trade show producer serving the medical and high technology manufacturing industries. Canon Communications was acquired in November 1996, by VS&A Communications Partners II, L.P., the $330 million private equity fund affiliated with the New York media and communications investment bank Veronis Suhler.

With the completion of the Abby Communications acquisition, Canon Communications LLC publishes ten business-to-business magazines and produces eight regularly held trade shows and symposiums. To Canon’s original roster of magazines, which are Medical Device & Diagnostic Industry, Medical Product Manufacturing News, MICRO, European Medical Device Manufacturer, IVD Technology, Medical Electronics Manufacturing, and Medical Plastics & Biomaterials, Canon now adds Injection Molding, Injection Moulding International, and Pharmaceutical & Medical Packaging News. The publications reach approximately 250,000 subscribers.

Canon’s family of trade show events includes Medical Design & Manufacturing shows in California, New York and Minnesota, the Medical Equipment Design & Technology Exhibition & Conference (MEDTEC) in the Netherlands, Medical Device Executive Forum, and has grown with the addition of the Medical Packaging Symposium in New York and the Atlantic and Pacific Design Engineering shows. These events regularly attract some 2,000 exhibiting companies and more than 20,000 attendees.

According to Canon Communications’ President and CEO William F. Cobert, "Each of these acquisitions is a logical extension of our existing roster of medical and technology manufacturing-related publications and trade shows, and they create significant marketing opportunities to grow the company."

Cobert added, "Abby Communications’ management and their team have done a terrific job in building the Injection Molding title into the leading book in its market and are a welcome extension to the Canon family. This acquisition supports our existing products in the medical manufacturing industries and also creates new opportunities within the general design and manufacturing field."

"We are justifiably proud of where we’ve taken our company in just a few short years," said Abby President and CEO, T. Peter Sullivan. "Nonetheless, we are very excited about our enhanced future as part of the growing Canon organization." Jeffrey T. Stevenson, President and General Partner of VS&A Communications Partners II, L.P. said, "Adding three new publications and two new trade shows to the Canon Communications platform strengthens Canon’s capabilities to serve its advertisers, readers, exhibitors and attendees."

VS&A Communications Partners II is prepared to commit additional equity capital for investment opportunities that meet Canon Communications’ objectives of acquiring and investing in medical and high technology manufacturing-related business-to-business publishers and trade show operators that can achieve growth through development of synergistic marketing opportunities and through strategic acquisitions.

Since its closing in September 1995, VS&A Communications Partners II, L.P. has committed over $215 million to investments in the business-to-business publishing, trade show, radio broadcasting, cable television, telephone directory publishing and business information services industries. In 1997, VS&A Communications Partners II, L.P. acquired two additional business-to-business communications platform companies: Chemical Week Associates and T/SF Communications Corporation.

To learn more about Canon Communications, LLC contact: William F. Cobert, President and CEO, Canon Communications, LLC, 3340 Ocean Park Boulevard, Suite 1000, Santa Monica, CA 90405, Tel: . Additional Information about the company is available at Canon’s website www.cancom.com. To learn more about Abby Communications contact: T. Peter Sullivan, Publisher and CEO, 10 Fairmount Avenue, P.O. Box 467, Chatham, NJ 07928, Tel. .

To learn more about VS&A Communications Partners II, L.P., contact: Jeffrey T. Stevenson, President and General Partner, , , Tel: .