UBM History
UBM: championing business media since 1843
UBM was originally incorporated in 1918 as United Newspapers Limited and changed to United News and Media in 1995, the name it kept until 2000 when “United Business Media Plc” was formally adopted.
The history of the companies that now make up United Business
Media stretches back almost two hundred years to the
Journal of Commerce which was founded and
first published by Samuel Morse - of Morse Code fame - in
1827. Today, the Journal of Commerce is produced in
both print and digital formats by Commonwealth Business
Media. UBM businesses still publish many other titles that
were launched in the 19th century, including
Building magazine, launched in 1843 by Joseph
Hansom, as well as The Engineer and
Chemist & Druggist.
Over the last thirty years, UBM has owned, bought and sold a wide
range of media businesses, including broadcast television
(Meridian, Anglia, HTV), market research (NOP), and newspapers
(Express Newspapers). PR Newswire, established in 1954, was
acquired in 1982; CMP Media was acquired in 1999 (and subsequently
renamed CMP Technology); CMPMedica was formed from a series of
acquisitions made during 2004 and 2005; and CMP Asia was formally
founded in 1994, although UBM had developed a substantial business
in Asia over the course of the preceding decade. In 2006, UBM
acquired Commonwealth Business Media, the leading information
provider to the global trade and transportation market.
Together, PR Newswire, the CMP businesses and Commonwealth
Business Media form the focused international business information
company UBM is today.
