Foodservice Industry's Top Publisher to Merge With Leading Conference, Retail Group

CHICAGO, April 1 /PRNewswire/ -- Yesterday, March 31, 2010, Ideal Media LLC agreed to merge the assets of its foodservice portfolio into CSP Information Group, Inc.  Ideal Media's foodservice portfolio includes Restaurant Business, FoodService Director, and Institutional Distribution (ID), the MenuDirections conference, as well as MonkeyDish.com and FoodServiceDirector.com. Ideal Media's Food Group was formed in 2005 to acquire Restaurant Business, FoodService Director, and ID from VNU, now the Nielsen Company. Since then, the group has grown from 10% market share to a 23% market share among 11 publications.

CSP magazine is the longtime leader in convenience store publishing market. All members of the former Ideal Media Food Group will transition to the newly formed CSP Food Group.

Restaurant Business and CSP's relationship began through a partnership in 2008 when Restaurant Business was named the official magazine partner for the Restaurant Leadership Conference, and both FoodService Director and Restaurant Business provided support for the launch of the Foodservice at Retail Expo (FARE). Both shows have set attendance records for their recent events. Restaurant Leadership features over 1,000 attendees representing more than half of all restaurant units in the United States. The unsolicited bid is the result of CSP's strategic vision to marry the leading industry conferences with the top foodservice publisher, and create communications opportunities across the entire industry as it spreads into retail.

"Blending our information assets will give us unprecedented market reach and create incredible value for our audiences, sponsors, and advertisers," said Paul Reuter, President and CEO of CSP. "Now, wherever foodservice happens, we will have a magazine, conference, newsletter, or website for it."

"We've built a strong relationship with the men and women at CSP through our conference partnerships the past two years, and we are thrilled to become full-time team members," said Scott Allmendinger, Vice President and Group Publisher of the CSP Food Group. "Their professionalism, spirit of innovation, and dedication to their clients will be a perfect cultural fit for our entire group." 

"Being part of this dramatic growth has been tremendously gratifying," said Brian Reshefsky, President of CSP Food Group's former parent company, Schofield Media Group LLC. "We will enjoy watching these brands go to the next level with the combined resources of CSP Information Group.

Andrew Schofield, Chairman and CEO of Schofield Media Group, said, "I am delighted and proud of the success that we have experienced, having taken on these titles at the bottom of their market in 2005 and, through the hard work from the team along with the right investments and operating strategy as of February 2010, overcame a 1600 ad page gap to become #1 for the first time in more than 20 years. I look forward to seeing them continue their amazing run with CSP."

Ideal Media LLC owns and operates Restaurant Business, FoodService Director, Beverage World and iSixSigma magazines, MonkeyDish.com and MyID Access web portal.  Ideal Media LLC is headquartered in Chicago, IL with a satellite office in New York, NY.  www.IdealMediallc.com  

Founded in 1999, Schofield Media Group publishes 26 business-to-business magazines and operates conferences & events in the US and UK. The company is headquartered in London and has regional offices in Chicago, New York, Boston, and Norwich. Divisions include Schofield Publishing UK, Schofield Media Chicago, RedCoat Publishing, Ideal Media and Schofield Healthcare Media.   www.SchofieldMediaGroup.com

CSP Information Group, publisher of CSP and Fare magazines, is a business-to-business communication company specializing in the convenience retailing and on-the-go food industries. In addition to its print products, CSP Information Group's other business units include CSP Daily News daily e-mail newsletter, CSPNetwork CyberConferences, CSPedia, CSPTV, CSP Leadership Conferences and Events including the Restaurant Leadership Conference, Foodservice at Retail Exchange (FARE), 24-7 Connect Virtual Expo and CSP Custom Solutions. Visit www.cspnet.com for more information.

SOURCE Schofield Media Group