PennWell Acquires Leading Renewable Energy Web Site
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TULSA, Okla., Nov. 29 -- PennWell Corporation, a diversified global media and information company, announced today that it has acquired a 51% interest in iCommerce & Marketing L.L.C., which operates RenewableEnergyAccess.com, the world's leading online-only publication and business-to-business community for renewable energy (http://www.renewableenergyaccess.com/). Financial terms of the sale were not disclosed.
Company Founders Jim Callihan and Oliver Strube will retain 49% ownership and continue to direct operations for the RenewableEnergyAccess.com website, e-newsletters, and related products from Peterborough, New Hampshire. Established in 1999, RenewableEnergyAccess.com serves 50,000 registered readers by providing comprehensive industry information and insight with its daily news, weekly podcasts, and regular columns and interviews. RenewableEnergyAccess.com covers finance, policy, and technology for renewable energies including solar power, wind power, biomass and biofuels, geothermal, hydrogen/fuel cells, and hydropower.
The acquisition of the RenewableEnergyAccess.com website expands PennWell's strategic position in the $40 billion renewable energy market, which is expected to double by 2010. PennWell also serves this growing industry with its international magazine Renewable Energy World, and annual North American conference and exhibition POWER-GEN Renewable Energy & Fuels, as well as its European conference and exhibition Renewable Energy Europe.
"Our partnership with RenewableEnergyAccess.com founders Jim Callihan and Oliver Strube represents a significant leap forward in PennWell's expansion plans for serving all segments of renewable energy," said PennWell President and Chief Executive Officer Robert F. Biolchini. "We are delighted that we will be afforded the opportunity to work with accomplished renewable energy experts of the caliber of Jim and Oliver, along with their full team in Peterborough. They are innovative leaders with the market expertise and deep industry relationships that will be essential to our taking advantage of the world's accelerating developments in renewable and sustainable technologies."
Since its inception in 1910, PennWell has been providing quality information to the energy industry, initially with oil and gas and then expanding into power generation and transmission. According to Biolchini, "We are committed to all facets of energy and view RenewableEnergyAccess.com as a critical foundation for PennWell's international sustainable and renewable energy presence in areas of increasing importance to our customers and energy producers around the globe."
"This partnership was inevitable -- the world's #1 online renewable energy publication joins forces with the world leader in energy publishing -- and it will take both of us to an even higher level of service for our markets and our readers," said Jim Callihan, President and Co-founder of RenewableEnergyAccess.com. "I can promise our customers and readers that RenewableEnergyAccess.com will continue to innovate online and reach deeper into new markets with the strength this new partnership brings to us."
The RenewableEnergyAccess.com website and print magazine Renewable Energy World, published bi-monthly in London, will be the media sponsors for the fifth annual POWER-GEN Renewable Energy & Fuels 2008 Conference & Exhibition to be held February 19-21 at the Rio Casino & Resort in Las Vegas. POWER-GEN Renewable Energy & Fuels will showcase the products and services of 225 companies covering 35,000 square feet. Over 4,000 attendees are expected for the sessions which will include 10 simultaneous conference tracks. Callihan and Strube serve on the advisory board for the event, and will also participate in PennWell's second annual Renewable Energy Europe Conference & Exhibition scheduled for June 3-5, 2008 in Milan, Italy.
In addition to its newly expanded presence in renewable energy, PennWell's additional energy-related properties include 13 magazines and 26 events for the oil and gas, electric power, water and related energy markets, including Oil & Gas Journal, Offshore, Oil & Gas Financial Journal, Power Engineering and Power Engineering International magazines, and leading events such as Deep Offshore Technology, Offshore West Africa, Offshore Asia, Offshore Middle East, and POWER-GEN, held annually in North America, Europe, Asia, Russia, India, and the Middle East.
About PennWell
PennWell Corporation is a 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, water and wastewater, renewable, electronics, semiconductor, contamination control, optoelectronics, fiberoptics, enterprise storage, converting, nanotechnology, fire, emergency services and dental. Founded in 1910, PennWell publishes 75 print and online magazines and newsletters, conducts 60 conferences and exhibitions on six continents, and has an extensive offering of books, maps, web sites, research and database services. In addition to PennWell's headquarters in Tulsa, Oklahoma the Company has major offices in Nashua, New Hampshire; Houston, Texas; London, England; Mountain View, California; Fairlawn, New Jersey, Moscow, Russia, and Hong Kong, China.
Contact:
Jayne Gilsinger
(918) 832-9303
jayneg@pennwell.com
Source: PennWell Corporation
Web Site: http://www.renewableenergyaccess.com/
