ProPrint acquired by Printer Magazines Group

ProPrint magazine has been acquired by Printer Magazines Group, the owner of fellow industry title Australian Printer.

The acquisition follows the decision by ProPrint's parent company, Haymarket Media, to exit the Australian market.

The acquisition comes approximately five years after Haymarket Media acquired ProPrint from its founder, respected Sydney printer Don Elliot, and eight months after Printer Magazines Group was itself acquired by Shankar Vishwanath.

The rest of Haymarket Media's Australian brands have been sold or licensed to Sydney-based nextmedia.

Haymarket Media's managing director, Jeremy Vaughan, said: "We'd been considering our options in Australia so when nextmedia approached us we felt it was the right opportunity to divest.

"With the Haymarket Media Group internationally focusing on its chosen sectors, and the recent expansion in Singapore, we saw this as an ideal time for our Australian brands to go to local publishers that will invest to ensure their long-term future."

Nextmedia is acquiring iTnews, PC & Tech Authority and BIT, and licensing Secure Computing, FourFourTwo and F1 Racing. It will also take over the custom projects and the license for CRN from The Channel Company.

Haymarket is currently in discussions with a publisher regarding the acquisition of Limelight magazine.

ProPrint editor Steven Kiernan will also transfer to nextmedia as the editor of CRN magazine.

Kiernan said: "It is emotional to say goodbye to ProPrint. Over the past four years, I have been passionate about building ProPrint into a leading business brand. It has been a privilege to work alongside our talented team as part of Haymarket Media.

"However, everyone in the printing industry can see the need for consolidation. This has been a major focus for ProPrint's editorial over recent years. The fact that ProPrint will come under the same umbrella as our peers at Australian Printer can only be a good thing for the health of the industry. I wish the new owners all the best."

Kiernan said that some of his proudest accomplishments included establishing the ProPrint Power 50, now in its fourth year, as well as the successful production of the PacPrint Daily in 2013 and the PrintEx Daily in 2011.

"Most of all, I will miss the fantastic people of print. I count many of the people I have met throughout the industry not just as contacts but as friends," he added.

Printer Magazines Group (PMG) will continue to run both brands side by side. Carmen Ciappara, ProPrint's sales manager and longest-serving member of staff, will continue to work on ProPrint under the new ownership.

PMG's Vishwanath said: "With ProPrint published at the start of each month, and Australian Printer mid-month, PMG's Australian print brands will arrive in the mailboxes of industry professionals approximately two weeks apart.

"These two leading brands provide manufacturers, solution and service providers with 22 conveniently spaced touch points through which to target their market each year," he added.

Brian Moore, group publisher at Printer Magazines Group, said: "Our acquisition of ProPrint demonstrates a strong and continuing commitment to print and a logical addition to our existing portfolio of brands delivered in print and online. ProPrint's website is at the leading edge of online news and information delivery as well as reader engagement."

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