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With the June 3 tender offer date looming, officials of CMP Media continued to assert that the planned merger with Miller Freeman will not produce "cataclysmic" or "draconian" personnel changes, with integration being handled by a team comprised of personnel from both companies.
President and CEO Michael Leeds met last week with officials from Miller Freeman to discuss the planned merger. One Miller Freeman official has stayed on premises and is currently meeting with key employees to plan integration strategy.
CMP spokesperson Barbara Kerbel said, "At this point there have been no announcements about organizational structure, including whether the number of employees might change."
Asked if the Manhasset-based company, which employs over 1,800 workers about half of them on Long Island, would try to keep those jobs secured, Kerbel responded, "It would be preposterous to say that. We're not the acquiring company. We're being acquired." Three weeks ago, London-based United News & Media announced it would buy the print and electronic publisher for $920 million, or $39 a share, in a deal put together by the Lazard Freres investment banking firm in New York. United, which is the UK's fourth-largest publishing firm, "plans to leverage CMP's titles and customers with Miller Freeman's 25 trade shows, such as the PC Expo, for...