After acquiring a 49% stake in the ABA’s annual trade show in 1993, Association Expositions & Services, a division of Reed Exhibitions, purchased the remaining 51% in 1996 for an estimated $20 million. AES executives were confident they could make enough changes in the show to lure back the publishers that had skipped the 1996 conference, in part due to concerns, as Penguin USA president Marvin Brown told PW, over whether they were getting enough “bang for the buck” by attending ABA.

For the complete article in the Publishers Weekly archive, go to publishersweekly.com/sept-16-1996.

From the Archive: September 16, 1996 by Publishers Weekly on Scribd