Cygnus Places Five Ag-related Shows for Sale

February 21, 2013

Cygnus Business Media has decided to sell its agriculture-related portfolio, which includes five trade shows and two magazines.

“With significant growth in our 2012 earnings, we enter 2013 with great enthusiasm,” said Cygnus’ CEO John French.

He added, “The right strategic buyer for the Agriculture Group will provide us with an opportunity to improve our overall balance sheet and provide a substantial return to our ownership group.”

The shows up for sale are the Amarillo Farm & Ranch Show, DakotaFest, Northern Illionois Farm Show, Minnesota Farmfest and IDEAg Interconnectivity Conference that are all a part of Cygnus’ IDEAg Group.

Even with what the company called “one of its most successful years in history,” the Ag Group wasn’t a fit into its overall strategy moving forward.

“These properties are highly profitable and have drawn significant interest for many years,” French said.

He added, “Additionally, this group is a discrete business that can be sold without adversely affecting Cygnus’ core business model or existing affinity groups.”  

French said there were no plans to put the remainder of the company on the market.

Corporate Solutions will be handling the sale and details were not disclosed.

The farm shows, which represent the entire producer-to-processor chain, offer a variety of forums, events, seminars and demonstrations, in addition to manufacturer exhibits.

Cygnus’ other groups focus on construction, public safety, technology and transportation and include shows such as the National Pavement Expo, EMSWorld, FirehouseWorld and Northwest Machine Tool Expo.

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