Endeavor Business Media Acquires Scranton Gillette Communications’ Media & Events Brands
By: Haniya Rae
Earlier this week, Endeavor Business Media, known for its range of b2b pubs across aviation, commercial vehicle, industrial, engineering, and more, acquired some 15 brands from Scranton Gillette Communications in the building and construction space.
This marks Endeavor’s 26th acquisition since its founding in 2017. Its strategy has been to roll up b2b media brands and, according to its about page, has grown to over 80 media brands and 40 conferences. Endeavor previously bought Scranton Gillette’s water and infrastructure groups in 2022. The full purchase of Scranton Gillette’s portfolio expands on Endeavor’s Building & Construction group, adding more expertise in residential building.
“We were missing the residential segment of that audience,” Ferrell tells AMO. Ferrell specified that the deal made sense for Endeavor because it aligned with the current businesses and markets they served. “I’ve had my eye on it for a few years.”
The acquisition offers a broader segment to Endeavor’s marketing partners. Approximately 30 employees from the Scranton Gillette team will join Endeavor, including 12 journalists well-versed in the building and construction industry. Though this isn’t as big of an acquisition as the Informa and Pennwell deals, it doubles the size of Endeavor’s Buildings & Construction group.
Ferrell says the company will be focusing on folding it into their current business, giving the company more data and insights to leverage.
What’s Next for Endeavor?
Ferrell says a big focus leading into 2025 will be building out events for the core audiences Endeavor serves. “We’ve been looking at events along the way, and it’s sort of an underrepresented side of our business,” Ferrell tells AMO. This growth, he says, will be across all industries currently served by Endeavor, and will be a combination of purchasing events and updating.
As for Endeavor’s overall approach, Ferrell continues to see opportunity in being a one-stop shop for the range of markets they serve, from manufacturing and infrastructure to city services and security.
“Offering a full range of solutions makes sense,” Ferrell says. ”Providing events and market research makes sense. I still think that’s the right strategy for us.”
Marketers looking to reach these various markets can spend with only one company—Endeavor—rather than needing to do smaller deals across multiple individual publications. This potentially gives Endeavor efficiencies of scale that a smaller publisher also might lack. If they want marketing services, an Endeavor specialist can join the call for that. If they want market research, a different specialist can join the call for that. Access to these audiences allows Endeavor to leverage their data for market analysis and research across tangential industries.
The other thing on the roadmap for Endeavor is its own sale. But that’s not because Ferrell wants to stop working. He told A Media Operator back in June that he was talking with private equity firms to buy out Resolute Capital Partners, his current private equity owner, to “help take Endeavor to the next level.”
Buying out Resolute and bringing on a new financial partner would allow Endeavor to go after some of the event targets that Ferrell has his eyes on. Ferrell told AMO that this process is still ongoing.
