UBM buys 4G World franchise

UBM, the FTSE 250 business media firm, has bought the 4G World exhibition and conference franchise.

The event is held every Autumn and claims to be the largest independent telecoms and wireless event serving the US.

Its main focus is the mobile broadband market, which, UBM points out, is predicted to serve 2.5bn 4G subscribers by 2016. 4G is the next protocol for data streaming to mobile phones and is expected to significantly increase the speed of using the Internet "on the go".

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Last year's show in Chicago attracted 8,500 delegates and 250 sponsors. Revenues for the event were around $3.2m.

UBM says the deal with the current owner, Yankee Group Research, "is expected to exceed UBM's cost of capital criterion in its first full year of ownership," though the actual cost of the acquisition is not disclosed.

The team which runs 4G world is being absorbed by UBM's TechWeb division.

Tony Uphoff, the Chief Executive of UBM Techweb commented: "This acquisition expands our offering in the rapidly-accelerating mobile broadband market. 4G World brings a valuable brand to our portfolio, and will immediately be able to tap into our thriving Light Reading and InformationWeek online communities".

Today's announcement doesn't appear to have excited investors much. By 8:41am UBM was unchanged at 582p. Over the last 12 months the stock has fallen 17%.

BS