PennWell Corporation, a diversified global media and information company, announced today that it has acquired a 51% interest in Revo Media Partners Limited, owner of LuxLive, the UK’s largest dedicated lighting event, and Lux Magazine and Lux Review, the leading trade publications in the energy efficiency lighting space. Financial terms of the sale were not disclosed.
Revo Media founders Ray Molony and Gordon Routledge will retain 49% ownership under a long-term partnership with PennWell and will continue to direct operations for the London-based business they started in 2010. Revo Media’s rapidly-growing LuxLive, held annually in November in London, takes place November 19-21, 2014 at the ExCeL convention center. LuxLive attracts a diverse cross section of end users, specifiers, and industry executives with over 200 exhibitors and sponsors and an expected attendance exceeding 6,500 for the November event. As part of LuxLive, the Lux Awards gala rewards creativity and sustainability by recognizing organizations that have used lighting in exceptional ways.
The acquisition by PennWell will enable Revo to expand the Lux brand and events to a number of key growth geographies by leveraging the extensive publishing, digital media, and conference and exhibition experience of PennWell. Lux Magazine, published 10 times per year, is the U.K.’s largest magazine and website for over 9,000 lighting manufacturers, engineers, designers, distributors and end users. Lux Review, published bi-monthly, reaches an audience of nearly 20,000 lighting buyers across Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and Asia-Pacific.
“Our partnership with Revo Media founders Ray Molony and Gordon Routledge represents a significant leap forward in PennWell’s expansion plans for serving all segments of the LED and lighting industries,” said PennWell President and Chief Executive Officer Robert F. Biolchini. “We are delighted that we will be afforded the opportunity to work with accomplished lighting experts of the caliber of Ray and Gordon, along with their 15-member team in London. Ray and Gordon are innovative leaders with the market expertise and deep industry relationships that will be essential to our taking advantage of the world’s developments in lighting design and applications.”
Founders Ray Molony and Gordon Routledge said they were attracted to PennWell because of PennWell’s media and events breadth and strength across its LEDs and Lighting product portfolio. “We’re excited about this collaboration,” said Ray Molony. “Our Lux brands are complementary to PennWell and together we will be able to offer our customer base diverse marketing and networking solutions in several growth geographies.”
The PennWell LEDs and Lighting Group includes Strategies in Light, a business-oriented conference and exhibition on LEDs and solid state lighting held annually since 2001 in North America, along with Strategies in Light Europe and Strategies in Light Japan. Strategies in Light Europe will co-locate alongside LuxLive in London in 2015 to gather a broad cross section of the dynamic lighting industry for networking, conference sessions, and the display of new technologies and products on the exhibition floor.
PennWell also publishes LEDs Magazine for the global LED and lighting community, reaching over 60,000 readers who specify, design, and manufacture LED-based products. PennWell also owns The LED Show, a U.S. conference and exhibition serving the lighting design and technology segment of the LED industry, and Strategies Unlimited, a market research and forecasting company specializing in market reports and custom studies for industries including optoelectronics and LED/Lighting.
About PennWell Corporation:
Founded in 1910 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, PennWell Corporation is a privately held and highly diversified business-to-business media and information company that provides quality content and integrated marketing solutions for the following industries: Oil and gas, electric power generation and delivery, hydropower, renewable energy, water and wastewater, waste management, electronics, optoelectronics, fiber-optics, aerospace and avionics, LEDs and lighting, fire and emergency services, and dental. PennWell publishes over 130 print and online magazines and newsletters, conducts 60 conferences and exhibitions on six continents, and has an extensive offering of books, maps, websites, research and database services. In addition to PennWell’s headquarters in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the Company has major offices in Nashua, New Hampshire; London, England; Houston, Texas; Mountain View, California; Fairlawn, New Jersey; Moscow, Russia; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and Hong Kong, China.