1105 Media Is Still On Shopping Spree

The second week of October was a busy one for 1105 Media as it beefed up its portfolio even more.

The year-and-a-half-old company made yet another deal with the purchase of three brands — GovSec, U.S. Law and the Ready! Conference & Exhibition series — from Natl. Trade Productions.

Neal Vitale, 1105 Media president and CEO, said the acquisition fit with the existing products in the company's Government Information Group. The group includes the tradeshow FOSE, and publications Federal Computer Week, Government Computer News, Washington Technology, Defense Systems and Government Health IT.

"We're really looking at a spectrum of opportunities across the government marketplace," Vitale said.

The acquisition also will allow the group to expand into other areas beyond pure technology, he added.

"(The group) already provides the largest and most comprehensive array of products and services to the public-sector IT community," Vitale said. "The addition of the GovSec, U.S. Law and Ready! shows further broadens and deepens our reach. We are excited about this acquisition, and look forward to continuing to offer these world-class educational and informational events to government executives."

Natl. Trade Productions CEO Tamara Christian said the deal made sense for her company too. "We believe that, as the home of FOSE and Federal Computer Week, 1105 Media is well-equipped ... for these shows," she said. "We think they will do really well there."

Several years — and a few owners — ago, Natl. Trade Productions launched FOSE.

With the sale, NTP's portfolio is down to one show, TS2, The Industry Event for Exhibit and Event Professionals. But, perhaps not for long.

"There's a significant announcement coming up," Christian said. "We're only really looking to buy, or start, one new show a year. We're not looking to be a publicly held or multi-billion dollar company. We really like who we are."

Other parts of the company are thriving, Christian added, and it still manages shows — the Diving Equipment Marketing Assn. Show and Coverings, for example.

The company's Creative Solutions Group, which supplies advertising and marketing services to associations, is also expanding by "leaps and bounds," she said.

It's also not the first time NTP has segued out of owning shows. "We had gone for a long time without owning shows," Christian said. "Then we bought GovSec and Ready! and U.S. Law."

1105 Media has been quite busy since Nautica Partners, Alta Communications and Vitale formed it in April 2006. They've made several acquisitions:

• 101 communications, reportedly for $75 million
• Stevens Publishing, a Dallas-based company that publishes seven magazines and newsletters
• Post Newsweek Tech Media from The Washington Post's government publishing and events group, which included FOSE
• FETC, the Florida Educational Technology Conference

Besides the Government Information Group, the company also has the Recharger Group with global tradeshows and publications.

Following the multimedia model of the company, Vitale said he is looking to acquire even more properties, such as print titles, to complement the new shows.

"We have a dominant position in the government marketplace, and we're looking to expand that," he added.