• by Tony Silber , Staff Writer, January 12, 2022

Endeavor Business Media announced the acquisition of the ISE brand, which covers the wireless and wireline telecom network market and the broader ICT space, including the convergence of convergence of telecommunications with computing and broadcasting.

The acquisition, announced last week, includes a trade show, ISE Expo, and a publication, ISE Magazine. The ISE assets were sold to Endeavor by Schaumburg, Illinois-based Practical Communications.

The acquisition signals a continued bullish M&A market in B2B media, which has navigated the two-year pandemic well, buoyed by a booming advertising market and a broad culture of innovation rather than a hidebound legacy approach.

The acquisition also adds a unique component to Endeavor’s Advanced Technology Group, complementing its existing brands in the information communications market, Endeavor said in a press statement.

“We’re pleased to add ISE Magazine and ISE Expo to Endeavor’s Advanced Technology Group, expanding our reach into the fixed and mobile network space,” Lester Craft, EVP of Endeavor’s Advanced Technology Group, said in the statement. “For more than 30 years, the ISE brand has been a trusted resource for more than 27,000 network evolution professionals.”

The expo is scheduled for August 24-25, 2022, at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver.

“On behalf of ISE, we’re thrilled to join the Endeavor Business Media team, a company that closely aligns with our mission to connect and educate professionals and provide creative marketing solutions for our readers and advertisers,” said Janice Oliva, Publisher of ISE Magazine and ISE EXPO. “We look forward to substantial new growth in both our audience and our offerings with the support of Endeavor’s leading portfolio of related brands.”

Nashville, Tennessee-based Endeavor, backed by the private-equity firm Resolute Capital Partners, was formed in late 2017 to acquire and operate trade publications, websites, events and marketing solutions. It quickly went on a run of acquisitions, with brands coming in transactions from SouthComm, PennWell and Informa, among others.

Endeavor is now arguably the largest B2B media company in the U.S., with brands in the aviation, dental, facilities maintenance, fire & public safety, design engineering, buildings and construction, energy and other markets.