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Miller Freeman, Inc.
Parent companyUnited News and Media (1985–2000)
StatusDefunct
Founded1902
FounderMiller Freeman
SuccessorVNU (US exhibition)
The Channel Company (UK IT division and portion of US IT division)
RELX Group (Europe and trade book)
Informa (US gaming and most of US IT division; UK, and Asia)
Country of originUnited States
Headquarters locationSan Francisco
Publication typesBooks, magazines
For the fisheries and oceanographic research ship, see NOAAS Miller Freeman (R 223).

Miller Freeman, Inc., was a San Francisco–based publisher of trade books and business magazines, as well as a manager of trade and industry expositions. It was an innovative force in business technology and communications in the 1990s until its breakup in 2000. A substantial part of the company was owned by UBM which is now owned by Informa.

History

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The company was founded in 1902 by Miller Freeman, a fishing industry magnate, Republican party activist, and the founder and leader of Washington State's Anti-Japanese League. Many of its publications were trade and marketing periodicals distributed free to qualified subscribers in specific industries.

Miller Freeman was acquired by United Newspapers in January 1985,[1] but continued to be run by Marshall Freeman, the founder's grandson, until 2000.[2] In 1991, Miller Freeman Publications merged with Gralla Publications to create Miller Freeman, Inc. Gralla's operations comprised twenty magazines and many trade shows serving markets in the travel, retail, and merchandising arenas. In 1992, Miller Freeman acquired M&T Publishing, Inc. and its four magazines in the software development and networking markets.

During the Internet economic boom of the middle and late 1990s, the company moved aggressively to acquire many technology publications centered on the Internet and telecommunications industries, including the Blenheim Group, producers of the PC EXPO trade show (1996).[3] The company was also notable for publishing Game Developer.[4] In 1999 United News and Media spent $900 million to acquire CMP Media, a leading publisher of high-tech magazines, to complement its Miller Freeman holdings.[2]

Subsequent to the acquisition of CMP Media, Miller Freeman later sold CMP UK and France (including rights to CRN in those countries) to VNU, a media holding company based in the Netherlands (later became part of Incisive Media and currently part of The Channel Company, which itself was founded as part of management buyout of UBM Channel, formerly CMP Channel Group).[5][6]

Some of Miller Freeman, including the book division, was merged into their CMP equivalents, retaining the CMP rather than the Miller Freeman name.[3][7][8][9] The music book division was renamed Backbeat Books which later sold to Hal Leonard.[8][10] (music magazine division was renamed Music Player Network which later divested with the rest of CMP Entertainment Media to NewBay Media[10][11] and today is a part of Future US).

Final logo of Miller Freeman, Inc. used until its dissolution in 2000

In 2000, as part of United News and Media's divestiture of assets, the part of Miller Freeman Inc. which had not been merged into CMP was acquired by VNU for a reported price of $650 million (€695 million).[12][13] The slightly smaller European portion of Miller Freeman was sold to Reed Elsevier[14][15] with a few other smaller sales.[16] At the time of divestiture, Miller Freeman assets included 81 magazines, 59 trade shows and related conferences and exhibitions, and various Web sites in five major categories: real estate and construction, sports & apparel, jewelry and gifts, travel and Latin America.[12] Subsequent to divestiture the remaining United News and Media was renamed United Business Media, which retained Miller Freeman's United Kingdom and Asia divisions.

VNU merged much of the purchased Miller Freeman assets into VNU Expositions but VNU subsequently divested themselves of a few former Miller Freeman assets.[17]

Miller Freeman, Inc. trademark was formerly owned by UBM, a subsidiary of Informa, but the trademark was abandoned in 2001.[18]

Impact

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Miller Freeman was an innovator in Internet business media and business technology tradeshows. Alan Peterson, former Director of Miller Freeman's electronic EOEM division, is quoted as saying, "The value-driven culture at Miller Freeman had a profound impression on me. The entrepreneurship that took place at headquarters during the Internet boom was nothing less than electrifying. I had what I would call unbridled opportunism there. That means going into markets, not being constrained and jumping on opportunities."[19]

See also

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Footnotes

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  1. ^ Staff (29 March 1985) "UK Company News: U.S. generates 68% of United News profit" Financial Times, London, Section II p. 24;
  2. ^ a b Callahan, Sean (1 June 1999) "Miller Freeman Prepares For CMP Takeover" Business Marketing p.4;
  3. ^ a b Staff (6 May 1999) "Media: UN&M boosts its interests with US media purchase" Marketing Institute of Marketing, Haymarket Publishing Services Ltd. 1999(18):
  4. ^ "Game Developer Premier 1994". Game Developer Magazine. Miller Freeman, Inc.: 2 1994. ISSN 1073-922X.
  5. ^ "VNU buys CMP UK and France: nightmare scenario realised". The Register. Retrieved March 24, 2021.
  6. ^ "EagleTree Backed Companies, Arc and The Channel Company, Acquire Incisive Media". Incisive Media (Press release). April 6, 2022. Retrieved March 27, 2023.
  7. ^ Staff (3 September 2001) "New Name Revealed for Miller Freeman Asia" Tradeshow Week 31(35): p.12;
  8. ^ a b "Backbeat Books: Miller Freeman Changes Name and Tempo". PublishersWeekly.com. Retrieved April 21, 2018.
  9. ^ "Game Developer April 2000". Game Developer Magazine. CMP Media: 2. 2000. ISSN 1073-922X.
  10. ^ a b "Hal Leonard buys Backbeat Books for $2.2M". www.bizjournals.com. Retrieved December 23, 2018.
  11. ^ UBM Has Sold CMP Entertainment Media to The Wicks Group Archived 2011-07-17 at the Wayback Machine, The Jordan, Edmiston Group, 13 September 2006 (retrieved 19 September 2010)
  12. ^ a b Staff (31 July 2000) '"VNU Acquires Miller Freeman From United News & Media" Business Publisher 15(1): p.1;
  13. ^ "VNU ACQUIRES MILLER FREEMAN FROM UNITED NEWS & MEDIA. - Free Online Library". www.thefreelibrary.com. Retrieved December 25, 2018.
  14. ^ Staff (26 July 2000) "UNM sells rest of Miller" Corporate Money p.3;
  15. ^ Teather, David; correspondent, media business (July 26, 2000). "United News sells off Miller Freeman Europe". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved December 25, 2018. {{cite news}}: |last2= has generic name (help)
  16. ^ Staff (23 October 2000) "Hongkong.Com Corp Buys Miller Freeman Asia's Travel Group" AsiaPulse News p. 697;
  17. ^ Staff (31 January 2002) "New company acquires titles from CMP Media: UP Media Group acquires PCB Group from CMP Media" Business Publisher 16(12): p. 1-2;
  18. ^ "MILLER FREEMAN Trademark - Serial Number 76026005 :: Justia Trademarks". trademarks.justia.com. Retrieved June 19, 2019.
  19. ^ Staff (28 November 2005) "The immortal Miller Freeman: industry legend" Tradeshow Week 35(47): pp. 42-45;

Further reading

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  • Staff (28 November 2005) "The immortal Miller Freeman: industry legend" Tradeshow Week 35(47): pp. 42–45;
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