Woodland Hills, CA – February 4, 2008 – Advanstar Communications, Inc. – a leading worldwide media company – today acquired CBI Research, Inc. (CBI), a provider of live and electronic conferences for senior-level executives in the pharmaceutical and biotech industries. This acquisition is the second property bought by Advanstar since the Company’s sale to a consortium of investors led by Veronis Suhler Stevenson in May 2007.

Advanstar CEO, Joe Loggia, sees tremendous organic growth opportunities for both CBI and Advanstar’s existing life sciences portfolio. “CBI is an impressive business with solid revenue growth history, combining highly-focused content with an effective environment for vendor interaction,” said Mr. Loggia. “President, Kathy Coffey, and her team have developed a culture that is centered on the creation of high-quality, innovate products while providing exceptional customer service”, he said.

“The addition of CBI not only strengthens our market-leading pharmaceutical industry properties, but also extends Advanstar’s product matrix by providing conference expertise that can be applied to all of our market verticals,” he said.

CBI’s portfolio and competitive position will also benefit significantly from Advanstar’s existing pharmaceutical industry expertise, audience base and leading brands, enabling the newly acquired group to introduce additional face-to-face events and conferences within its core pharmaceutical vertical.

Kathy Coffey, President of CBI, will remain, directing the company’s Massachusetts-based staff of 45. Ms. Coffey is keen to grow CBI’s presence by leveraging Advanstar’s existing resources. “We are extremely excited about the opportunity to expand CBI’s footprint into new market sectors, and look forward to partnering with Advanstar’s industry-leading team,” she said.

About Advanstar (www.advanstar.com)
Advanstar Communications Inc. is a leading worldwide media company providing integrated marketing solutions for the Fashion, Life Sciences and Powersports industries.  Advanstar serves business professionals and consumers in these industries with its portfolio of 91 events, 67 publications and directories, 150 electronic publications and Web sites, as well as educational and direct marketing products and services. Market leading brands and a commitment to delivering innovative, quality products and services enables Advanstar to “Connect Our Customers With Theirs.” Advanstar has approximately 1,000 employees and currently operates from multiple offices in North America and Europe.

About CBI Research, Inc. (www.cbinet.com)
Founded in 1994 in Massachusetts, CBI Research, Inc. is dedicated to developing market-driven, unbiased conferences in pharmaceuticals\biotech, medical devices, risk and insurance and managed care markets. CBI Research, Inc. offers conferences and summits that serve senior executives and government officials by providing a unique platform for highly focused content and presentation. As a delegate, speaker or sponsor, you receive timely information on the latest investment opportunities, business strategies, domestic and international regulatory issues, operations and applied technologies. Our events provide you with concrete, real life examples that you can begin to apply at your organization immediately for significant impact on costs and revenue. Plus, there are extensive opportunities for networking and discussion with senior policy and decision makers.

About Veronis Suhler Stevenson (www.vss.com)
Veronis Suhler Stevenson is a private equity firm that invests buyout and structured capital funds in the media, communications, information and education industries in North America and Europe. VSS provides capital for buyouts, recapitalizations, growth financings and strategic acquisitions to companies and management teams with a goal to build companies both organically and through a focused add-on acquisition program. To date, VSS equity and structured capital funds have invested in over 58 platform companies, which have in turn completed over 245 add-on acquisitions resulting in a portfolio with realized and unrealized enterprise values in excess of $2.8 billion.

For more information, please contact:
Susannah George
Advanstar Communications
Corporate Marketing and Communications
sgeorge@advanstar.com
818-227-4465