Reed Business Information Looks to Sell Publishers Weekly

By Jason Boog 

pubweekly.jpgReed Business Information (RBI) will try to sell the trade magazines Publishers Weekly, Library Journal, and School Library Journal, according to a PW report.

The article also notes that RBI CEO Tad Smith just resigned, and acting CEO John Poulin will supervise the operation. Bloomberg reported this morning that parent company Reed Elsevier’s “first-half profits” had plunged by 48 percent.

Here’s more from the article: “The sale of the group is part of RBI’s strategy to divest most of its trade magazines in the U.S. Last year, Reed Elsevier, parent company of RBI, tried to sell all of RBI but dropped the sale when it couldn’t get the price it wanted in a depressed market for media properties.”