United Business Media plc’s CMP Technology unit acquired Colorado Springs-based Think
Service Inc. on Tuesday for $24.5 million, one of the biggest deals in recent years involving
a local company.
CMP plans to retain all 38 employees of Think Service, which operates a 7,500-member trade group
for help desk and information technology professionals called HDI, said Ruthann Fisher, vice
president and brand director for CMP’s International Customer Management Institute.
Ron Muns, who owned 86 percent of Think Service, and other investors in the company can earn up
to $5 million during the next year if Think Service meets earnings targets, Fisher said. Muns will
remain as a consultant to Think Service for up to 12 months.
“This acquisition deepens our portfolio of services beyond the call center to help desk and
IT support centers creating a full-service offering to these professionals on a global scale,”
Philip Chapnick, group president of CMP, said in a news release issued Wednesday.
Muns said he decided to sell Think Service after his wife had a heart attack about a year ago.
He said he hired New York-based Jordan, Edmiston Group Inc. in May to find a buyer for the company
and selected CMP among five other bidders.
“This was the best fit, and that made us more valuable to them,” Muns said. “There
are three legs to this business — the membership, the conferences and the certification
training — and you need all of them. CMP understands that and will serve all three areas.”
Muns said he has “agreed to retire for six months and then reconsider” and will spend more time golfing.
The transaction doesn’t include the Information Technology Infrastructure Management Association, a related
group Muns started in 2006 that will be shut down, Fisher said. The shutdown won’t involve any layoffs because
the group shared employees with Think Service, she said.
The deal marks the second time Muns has sold Think Service, a company he founded in 1989 and sold to
Ziff-Davis Inc. in 1992. Since buying back the company in 1999, he more than doubled membership and
increased revenue sixfold to more than $15 million last year.
HDI, formerly called the Help Desk Institute, operates 68 chapters in North America, offers training
sessions and hosts an annual conference and expo that attracts more than 2,000 participants. This year’s
conference is scheduled March 9-12 in Dallas.
Think Service will operate as an independent unit within CMP’s International Customer Management
Institute, a trade group that provides consulting, training, management tools, seminars, conferences,
trade shows and publications to the call-center industry.
The acquisition is the latest in a series of deals by Manhasset, N.Y.-based CMP to acquire online
and events brands and businesses to diversify away from its technology publications, which include TechWeb,
Information-Week, ChannelWeb, CRN and EE Times.
“The acquisition of TSI is another step in the continuing development of CMP’s global
exhibition, training and consulting business servicing the worldwide IT support market,”
David Levin, United Business Media’s chief executive, said in a news release.
United Business Media was started in 1918 as United Newspapers Ltd. and once owned the Journal of
Commerce and several television networks. The company acquired CMP in 1999 and also owns PR Newswire,
Building magazine and several other magazines.
CONTACT THE WRITER: 636-0234 or wayneh@gazette.com
