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United News & Media Acquires PR News Service of Chicago
Welcome to United News and Media.
We are an international media and information group, operating in three areas, Business Services, Consumer Publishing & Broadcasting.
We are based in the UK but nearly two-thirds of our profits are earned
abroad. Our aim is to build market leading businesses by investing
heavily in the creation of content, product innovation and expansion
both in the UK and internationally. We have the financial strength and
the management resources and talents to back up this strategy
United News & Media plc Ludgate House 245 Blackfriars Road
London SE1 9UY U.K. Contact: Dawn Faulkner
Tel: +44 171 921 5000
Fax: +44 171 928 2717
LONDON, June 3 /PRNewswire/ -- United News & Media announces that it has, through its subsidiary PR Newswire, acquired PR News Service of Chicago, previously owned jointly by the Chicago Tribune and Chicago Sun Times.
The acquisition consolidates PR Newswire's position as the world's leader in the electronic distribution of full text news releases. Chicago PR News service provides comprehensive distribution in Illinois, Wisconsin and adjacent states. Taken with the acquisition also in February of South West Newswire in Dallas, which provides similar coverage in Texas and Arizona, PR Newswire now offers the first fully integrated distribution network across the United States through its 26 bureaus.
Charles Gregson, Executive Director, Business Information, said:
"Ever since it formed the first corporate newswire in 1954, PR Newswire has led the industry both in size and the comprehensive range of services it provides. With this acquisition, it has completed its US network and is poised for future development."
Ian Capps, President of PR Newswire, said:
"We have created the first fully integrated national distribution network for the public and investor relations community. The full range of PR Newswire's sophisticated services is now accessible to multi-national corporations and other organizations, with a single call anywhere in the country."
NOTES FOR EDITORS
PR Newswire's basic service to companies, government agencies and others is an electronic newswire enabling their communications to reach the media,the financial community and the general public via satellite. Distribution beyond its own network is through agency agreements with other suppliers, such as Two-Ten Communications in the UK. Its 20,000 clients, whose communications are able to reach worldwide over 25,000 newspapers, magazines and broadcasters, and more than 250,000 terminals in the financial community,
include over two-thirds of Fortune 500 companies in the United States.
In addition to the basic newswire, PR Newswire offers users alternative distribution means, including fax, e-mail and direct to databases. It has been a leader in the distribution of corporate information via the Internet. Its web site (http://www.prnewswire.com) contains Company News On-Call, which
stores 12 months of news releases for over 1,000 companies, video and audio facilities, a daily news update and a free electronic financial magazine.
United News & Media is an international media and information group, with
interests in:-- consumer publishing, including Express Newspapers, regional newspapers in the UK, and advertising publications in the US and Europe-- broadcasting and entertainment, including the Meridian and Anglia ITV companies and a 29% share in Channel 5 in the UK
-- financial services, including the world's largest integrated money and securities broker
-- business services, which, in addition to PR Newswire, includes the Miller Freeman trade magazines and exhibitions business, NOP Information Group and stock photographer Visual Communications Group.
SOURCE United News & Media
PR Newswire offers unparalleled coverage of the general media, industry publications, the financial community and a broad range of target audiences like feature and entertainment news editors.
PR Newswire's services begin with NewsLines, but also includes broadcast fax and fax-on-demand applications, delivery by Email, photo
transmission, Internet Services and more.
Browse the information presented here for an overview of some of the
most popular services PR Newswire provides. Contact your local bureau to discuss your specific requirements directly with you at your
convenience.
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Media and Investor Relations
Through media and investor relations coffees, PR Newswire brings
together prominent editors and the PR/IR communities to discuss topics
of mutual interest: what types of stories interest reporters, how to
pitch stories, etc. Recent events have included speakers from the Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg and CNN. PRN conducts about 200 of these events across the country each year.
Membership
When PR Newswire was established in 1954, Federal Communications
Commission (FCC) regulations did not allow any company aside from AT&T
and Western Union to send a printed message for another person.
PR Newswire was established as a membership association and all copy
became the property of PR Newswire for the purposes
United News & Media plc ("United") Sale of regional newspaper interests
raises 450 million pounds
LONDON, Feb. 27 /PRNewswire/ -- United announces that it has sold Unitedc Provincial Newspapers ("UPN") for 360 million pounds in cash to a consortium led by Candover Investments plc and agreed the sale of UPN Espana to Hebdo Mag International Group, a division of Cendant Corporation, for 42.75 million
pounds in cash on completion.
These disposals complete the sale of United's regional newspaper interests which together have raised 450 million pounds. The profit on the disposals is approximately 270 million pounds. The proceeds of the disposals will be applied in reducing United's net borrowings.
UPN is the regional newspapers and advertising periodicals business of United in the North of England, operating predominantly in Yorkshire and Lancashire. The principal daily titles of UPN include the Yorkshire Post, the Yorkshire Evening Post and the Lancashire Evening Post. For the year ended 31 December 1997, UPN generated revenues of approximately 141.1 million pounds and operating profit of approximately 27.2 million pounds. Net assets as at 31 December 1997 amounted to approximately 58.3 million pounds.
UPN Espana is the Spanish advertising periodicals business of United. The principal title of the group is Segundamano, which is the leading advertising periodical in Madrid. For the year ended 31 December 1997, UPN Espana generated revenues of approximately Pts 4,063 million (16.8 million pounds) and operating profit of approximately Pts 871 million (3.6 million pounds). Net liabilities as at 31 December 1997 amounted to approximately Pts 6,278 million (25.0 million pounds).
Dresdner Kleinwort Benson advised United on these disposals.
Commenting on the disposals, Clive Hollick, United's Chief Executive,
said:
"This is a further step in the strategy that we have consistently pursued over the last two years of realising non-core assets while investing in those areas of our business which have strong market positions and good growth prospects. In that time we have completed disposals worth over 800 million pounds while investing around 800 million pounds in business services and around 500 million pounds in broadcasting.
Andrew Nugee Joins Visual Communications Group to Launch Digital And
Internet Distribution Products
LONDON, Jan. 18 /PRNewswire/ -- United News and Media (Nasdaq: UNEWY; London: UNWS) announces that Andrew Nugee is to become the new Chief Executive of its still image marketing subsidiary Visual Communications Group (VCG). Andrew will drive forward the development of VCG's digital and Internet platform and products.
VCG markets the reproduction rights to a broad range of high quality images through a global distribution network covering more than 50 countries as well as via the Internet. It is one of the world's leading suppliers of visual content to a diverse range of clients including advertising and design agencies, magazines, newspapers and traditional and new media publishers. VCG's innovations have been one of the key drivers behind the rapid growth of
its industry over the last decade.
Andrew has been Managing Director of FT Media and Telecoms for the past two years and prior to that worked for the Boston Consulting Group in London and Munich and at the Economist Intelligence Unit.
Charles Gregson, Executive Director responsible for Visual Communications Group said: "I am delighted that Andrew will be taking over responsibility for Visual Communications Group, an important component of United's growing web-based and technology-oriented portfolio. He brings to the company a wealth of experience, which will help it take advantage of the exciting opportunities presented by digital technology and the Internet. He will take over from Sheldon Marshall who has run the company for the last 15 years and
built it into one of the top three businesses world-wide in its industry."
Andrew Nugee said: "I am tremendously pleased to be joining VCG at such an exciting point in its development. VCG's strong brands and wealth of content provide a robust base to take it onto the Internet and achieve the very tangible efficiency and distribution benefits offered by this revolutionary medium."
United Invests In Business Services
LONDON, Feb. 11 /PRNewswire/ -- United News & Media plc
(Nasdaq-NNM: UNEWY) has made three further investments to develop the marketleading positions of its Business Services Division.
The aggregate consideration for the three acquisitions is approximately$30 million, and they are expected to enhance earnings in 1997.
Miller Freeman is a leading business publisher and exhibition organizer.Headquartered in San Francisco, with divisions in the US, Europe and Asia, it publishes over 140 business magazines, as well as a host of websites, CD-ROMs, directories and newsletters. It is the world's largest trade show organizer,
with over 280 shows worldwide.
Technology & Learning
Miller Freeman Inc. has acquired Technology & Learning Magazine, with its companion website T&L Online from the Peter Li Education Group of Dayton, Ohio. Technology & Learning is a leading publication in the US educational technology field, serving teachers and administrators involved in the purchaseof IT for classroom use. It takes Miller Freeman into the education market for the first time.
South West Newswire
PR Newswire has acquired Southwest Newswire from Westward CommunicationsInc. Based in Dallas, Texas, Southwest Newswire is a leading regional distributor of corporate and other news releases.
PR Newswire is the world's leading electronic distributor of full-text corporate information. Its worldwide network offers clients global distribution of their releases by a wide range of media, including broadcast fax, fax-on-demand, broadcast e-mail and Internet.
United News & Media to Invest in Digital Television Network
LONDON, May 9 /PRNewswire/ -- United News & Media plc and NTL Incorporated announce that they have entered into a conditional agreement for United to subscribe for shares in Digital Television Network Ltd (DTN).
The agreement is conditional upon the Independent Television Commission (ITC) granting DTN a licence to operate one or more digital terrestrial multiplexes under the Broadcasting Act 1996. United would subscribe for 30 percent of the ordinary share capital of DTN at a maximum cost of 120 million pounds sterling over a four-year period. The remaining shareswould be held by NTL Inc.
Roger Laughton, Executive Director, Broadcasting and Entertainment, at United News & Media, said:
"United is very pleased to have this opportunity to invest in DTN, who have prepared a most impressive application. It contains a range of exciting and innovative proposals increasing the services available to consumers and viewers in their home. It is also a bid which, if successful, will offer the prospect of serious competition in the important digital television market.
Through ITV and Channel 5, United already has a significant stake in the launch of new digital services. This agreement enables us to extend further our interests in the emerging multichannel world of the next century."
Barclay Knapp, Chief Executive Officer and President of NTL, Inc., said:
"We are delighted to welcome United as an equity investor in DTN. We have been working closely together and they are an important provider of programming in our application."
United News & Media Boosts PR Newswire's European Operations With UK
Internet acquisition
LONDON, Jan. 12 /PRNewswire/ -- United News & Media's fast-growing global newswire service, PR Newswire (PRN), has acquired NEWSdesk International, a UK-based company which distributes corporate news via the Internet to journalists specialising in the high-tech market.
PRN founded the electronic news release distribution industry in 1954. As the established leader in its industry, PRN satisfies the growing demand for companies to communicate news and information about new products, services and corporate developments to media and financial audiences worldwide on behalf of more than 30,000 corporations. PRN has 28 bureaux in the US, as well as
international bureaux in Hong Kong, London, Paris, Frankfurt and Sao Paulo, and is the joint owner of Canada NewsWire. The company has been a subsidiary of United since 1982.
NEWSdesk currently has 1,200 high-tech customers throughout Europe, including IBM and Hewlett Packard and a worldwide audience of over 5,600 journalists and industry analysts to whom it automatically sends company updates and information. Established in 1995, NEWSdesk quickly made its mark by providing virtual newsrooms for trade show events and by giving reporters around the globe the ability to retrieve releases in up to 13 languages. Its products include photographic, video and audio material as well as press
releases. A unique feature of NEWSdesk which is particularly popular with news and communications departments is its ability to track access to their releases.
NEWSdesk boosts PRN's European development with an expanded distribution network and a proven technology, which may be readily rolled out from high tech into other industry sectors. The company plans to begin healthcare releases early in 1999 with additional industries to follow soon after.
Ian Capps, President of PR Newswire, said:
"The acquisition of NEWSdesk allows us to create a global electronic environment that enables a reporter in Milan to interact seamlessly and instantaneously with a source in Silicon Valley. We are becoming the conduit that provides the continuous flow of information between the media and news and information officers."
Graeme Radcliffe, Chairman of NEWSdesk, said:
"The World Wide Web creates a wealth of opportunities for our marketplace and] the alliance of NEWSdesk and PR Newswire heralds a new and exciting era for our industry. By merging our skills and our understanding of the new processes, we will be able to expand very rapidly."
Charles Gregson, Executive Director of United News & Media said:
"NEWSdesk is an important strategic move for PRN. It demonstrates our commitment to investing in our high-growth businesses and developing selected web-based and other technology-oriented businesses where they enhance existing operations and boost growth."
Notes for Editors
DTN submitted to the ITC on January 31, 1997 an application to operate digital terrestrial television services under the Broadcasting Act 1996. United intends to continue to consolidate its existing market positions and to extend its brands by market and geography as suitable acquisition opportunities arise. With the 450 million British Pound Sterling sale of regional papers this year, United has substantial financial resources at its disposal. In the face of challenging markets, we will continue to identify and exploit opportunities for growth and build on our market-leading positions around the globe.
NTL Inc. is an integrated communications company based in the U.K. The company offers a wide range of products and services through five major business divisions:
-- local television services and telecoms, the U.K.'s most successful operator of cable television and cable telephony, offering services over integrated high-capacity networks in six U.K. regions
-- broadcast, which provides television and radio broadcasters with broadcast transmission services from over 600 sites throughout the U.K.
-- national media, which manages the company's initiatives in programming, content, digital technology and interactive services
-- Internet and information services, providing access to the Internet through the national networks-- national telecommunications, providing national telecoms, radio communications and satellite services |
