Northstar Travel Group Is Sold by One Private Equity Company to Another

Northstar Travel Group, which operates business-to-business travel media brands including Travel Weekly as well as the Phocuswright event and research company, was sold by Wicks Business Media to Wasserstein Partners for an undisclosed sum, reports Folio.

Wicks had owned Northstar since July 2012, when it completed a purchase from BV Investment Partners, another private equity group.

Among Wasserstein Partners’ portfolio is Penton, which has a collection of B2B  publications including Aviation Week and dozens of specialty and regional aviation titles. Northstar and Penton will remain independent of one another.

Northstar was an active acquirer in 2014, buying Asian travel brands including Web in Travel, Travel Weekly Asia, and Travel Weekly China, among others. It also acquired Mountain Travel Symposium, an events business aimed at the ski and outdoors sector, in the same year. Over the last 18 months Northstar has also invested in modernizing its brands’ websites as it tries to improve its digital distribution.

Northstar CEO Tom Kemp and the executive team are said to be continuing in their positions. Kemp has been CEO of Northstar since 2009 and previously served as Chairman and CEO of Penton when it was under different ownership.