• by Joe Mandese  @mp_joemandese, August 2, 2005

In a sign that the M&A market for business-to-business media is still healthy - at least for publishers in the online media sector - Jupitermedia Corp., a leading publisher of research and news about online media news Tuesday announced the sale of its online news sites and a series of trade shows about search engine strategies for $43 million in cash.

The buyer, London-based trade publisher Incisive Media plc, will be paying about one-time full 2004 revenues for the Jupitermedia assets. For calendar 2004, Jupitermedia reported $39.9 million in revenues for its online media and events divisions. The units generated $23.6 million in gross profits that year.

The deal is the second major acquisition of an Internet-related conference and trade show business this year. In January, DMG World Media, a wholly owned subsidiary of London-based Daily Mail & General Trust plc, agreed to acquire Ad:tech, one of the leading trade shows about online advertising and marketing, from JD Events. Terms of that deal were not disclosed, but the sale price is believed to be in the $20 million range. Investment banker Jordan Edmiston Group Inc. handled both deals.

Late Monday, Jupitermedia reported record second quarter revenues of $33.8 million, an 89 percent increase over the second quarter of 2004, though the company has made numerous acquisitions since then. Its online media and events divisions generated revenues of $21.5 million through the first half of 2005.

In a statement, Incisive Media indicated it plans to use the acquisition to expand into the U.S. B-to-B publishing market, and to expand the search engine strategies conferences into other markets. "The acquisition will allow Incisive Media to strengthen its footprint in the US and to roll-out the SES model across the territories in which the company currently operates," it said.

The deal includes the Search Engine Strategies trade shows and the ClickZ.com Network of Web sites, including SearchEngineWatch.com.

Alan Meckler, the colorful chairman-CEO of Jupitermedia Corp., has been aggressively acquiring stock photography and digital images businesses. He said the funds from the sale of Jupitermedia's assets would be used to strengthen its balance sheet and to make more image acquisitions. The digital image licensing business is dominated by two well-capitalized players: Corbis, a company owned by Microsoft chairman Bill Gates, and Getty Images.