Cygnus Business Media

At the time of its acquisition, the primary requirement of retiring Johnson Hill CEO Jonathan Pellegrin was that PTN would allow the publications to remain in Wisconsin.

Formed a year before the acquisition, Cygnus was a creation of two former Turner Broadcasting System executives, World Championship Wrestling founder F. Blair Schmidt-Fellner and former Home Shopping Network CEO Gerry Hogan, along with investment firm Kelso & Co. Fellner, Hogan and Kelso would steer Cygnus for three years before selling it to the newly formed Commerce Connect Media for a reported $275 million.

Replacing them on an interim basis was Charlie Carnaval of Zolfo-Cooper who oversaw the attempted transfer of Cygnus by ABRY to its primary creditor, GE Capital, in an effort to avoid bankruptcy.

During this time, Cygnus froze employee salaries and downsized, shuttering several magazines, including Photo Trade News and Modern Jeweler and laying off more than 10 percent of its staff.

Under John French's guidance, Cygnus Business Media was refocused into four initial affinity groups: Aviation, Construction, Public Safety and Agriculture.

French also chose to maintain Cygnus’ Wisconsin headquarters, personally moving to Fort Atkinson along with new CFO Paul Boniauto.