New York—By the time Surfaces 2006 begins next Jan. 31, it will operating under new ownership as Hanley Wood is being purchased by JPMorgan Partners (JPMP) for an undisclosed price. JPMP, a private equity affiliate of J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., entered into a definitive agreement May 26 with Hanley Wood’s parent company Veronis Suhler Stevenson (VSS) to acquire the business unit. In addition to Hanley Wood, the transaction includes VSS’ Wasserstein & Co. as well as current and former Hanley Wood management. Michael Wood, cofounder of Hanley Wood will remain on the board but step down as CEO, and current president, Frank Anton will assume the CEO position. In addition, all five of Hanley Wood’s divisions—magazines, e-media, exhibitions, marketing and market intelligence—will continue to be operated by their current leaders. While the purchase price has yet to be made public, JPMP and VSS noted when all accounts are settled, the deal will represent the second largest business-to-business media transaction in the U.S. Hanley Wood, which publishes 22 trade titles, operates 17 Web sites, produces 15 trade shows—including four that are among the largest in North America, such as Surfaces and World of Concrete—and offers a full range of marketing services solutions to numerous corporate clients as well as tracking and selling key housing activity data, does more than $200 million a year in business. “Hanley Wood is one of the great B2B media franchises in the U.S.,” said Mike Hannon, a partner in JPMP. “We can’t wait to begin working with the management team to accomplish the next phase of the company’s growth.” Hanley Wood’s Anton said the company already has a five-year plan in place, called HWX (Hanley Wood Accelerates). “Our goal is to continue the dramatic growth that Hanley Wood has achieved during our partnership with Veronis. The five-year plan calls for us to double existing businesses and we remain an active acquirer of construction industry magazines, trade shows and data businesses.” In business since 1976, Hanley Wood has been operating under the VSS umbrella since 1999. Since then said Jeffrey Stevenson, managing partner of VSS, “Mike Wood and his talented management team have been able to more than double the company revenues and triple EBITDA through new product launches and 13 add-on acquisitions.” One of those acquisitions was Surfaces, which it purchased in 2000 from the World Floor Covering Association ( WFCA) for more than $40 million. Since taking over, the largest all-encompassing flooring market in North America has seen increases in both attendance—36,000 to 40,000—and exhibitors—750 to 1,000. In addition, the management team, headed by Galen Poss, president, and Michele Troop, show director, has continually introduced initiatives to upgrade and enhance the market, such as reconfiguring the traffic flow on the show floor to offering an expanded educational conference program. According to initial reports, the Surfaces team will remain in place and is already working on the 2006 show, which runs from Jan. 31 to Feb. 3 at the Sands Expo & Convention Center in Las Vegas. Exhibits are open from Feb. 1 to 3, but the conference program starts on Jan. 31 with hands-on workshops and demonstrations. For more information on Hanley Wood or Surfaces, call 972-536-6400. —Matthew Spieler