Advance Publications Inc. Appoints Janine McGrath Shelffo Chief Strategy And Development Officer

NEW YORK, May 23, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Advance Publications Inc. ('Advance') announced today that Janine McGrath Shelffo, Co-Head of Technology, Media and Telecom – Americas at UBS Investment Bank, will join the company later this year in the new position of Chief Strategy and Development Officer.  Shelffo will be charged with spearheading corporate strategy and leading a multi-billion dollar capital deployment program to accelerate diversification into new growth areas for Advance, and to strengthen the company's existing businesses through acquisitions, investments and partnerships.

"Based on our long association with Janine, we are confident that she is the right person to take on this critical role for us," said Steve Newhouse, Co-President of Advance.  "Like all media companies, we are living through a period of unprecedented disruption and innovation.  We see tremendous opportunity to strategically deploy capital to move us in new directions, and to help our existing businesses capitalize on their great potential."

Shelffo said that the opportunity to help steer Advance's long-term strategy attracted her to join the company after more than two decades on Wall Street.  "Advance has a storied history as one of the most successful investors and operators in the sector I have spent my investment banking career covering, and I have gotten to know them well through my work for UBS.  I am excited to join Advance at this juncture where the company is uniquely well positioned to use its significant capital resources, as well as its strategic and operating resources, to foster growth and transformation," said Shelffo.

Shelffo has a well-established track record of advising Advance while at UBS, notably on last year's sale of Bright House Networks to Charter Communications, and consulting with Advance's business units. Most recently, Shelffo helped shape the growth and acquisition strategy for Condé Nast Entertainment, the video arm of Condé Nast. 

"Janine has been a thoughtful and perceptive advisor to Advance and to our business units," said Newhouse. "We look forward to having her fully dedicate her focus to enhancing our position as a global media and technology company with outstanding prospects for growth."

Shelffo is an accomplished investment banking executive in the technology, media and telecom sector, and has been advising companies and their boards on strategic transactions throughout her investment banking career.  Among her other leadership roles at the firm, she has co-chaired the Diversity & Inclusion Council for UBS Investment Bank in the Americas.  Prior to joining UBS in 2008, she covered the sector for other investment banks including Lehman Brothers, Credit Suisse and Donaldson Lufkin & Jenrette.  Shelffo holds a B.S. in Finance from Georgetown University and an MBA from Columbia Business School.

About Advance Publications Inc.
Advance Publications is a diversified privately-held company that operates and invests in a broad range of media, communications and technology businesses globally.  The operating businesses of Advance employ over 12,000 people in over a dozen countries and include:

Condé Nast's global magazine and digital brand portfolio, including such titles as Vogue, Vanity Fair, GQ, The New Yorker, and Wired; local news media companies producing 30 newspapers and 12 websites in 10 different metro areas and states; American City Business Journals, publisher of business journals in 40 cities; 1010data, a provider of big data enterprise solutions; and POP, a digital marketing agency.  Advance is also among the largest shareholders in Charter Communications, a leading broadband communications company and the second largest cable operator in the United States; Discovery Communications, a portfolio of premium nonfiction, lifestyle, sports and kids programming brands; and Reddit, a social news and interest forum.

Media Contact:
Steve Newhouse
[email protected]

SOURCE Advance Publications Inc.