NASHVILLE, Tn. – Southcomm, Inc, a publishing and communications company, based in Nashville, Tenn, today announced that it has acquired the remaining properties of Cygnus Business Media, including publications, website portals and trade shows for an undisclosed amount. The transaction was finalized on December 23, 2014. All publication and event staff as well as most of the corporate support employees have been retained by SouthComm, Inc.

According to former CEO John French, who led Cygnus since 2009, “Following the recent sale of the Public Safety and Security Group to SouthComm in November, we were impressed with the company’s leadership and quickly realized that it made sense for them to acquire the remaining assets. We’re extremely proud of the dramatic turnaround and significant progress our whole team has made in the last five years. The great advances in tradeshows, digital products, databases and improved designs of our magazines all contributed to reaching our ultimate goal of realizing significant value to our owners. I wish SouthComm continued success working with these multi-platform industry-leading brands. 

The purchase of Cygnus Business Media includes a variety of properties that reach the aviation, landscape and technology markets, providing integrated marketing solutions with print, digital and event properties. 

The Aviation Group includes Aircraft Maintenance Technology, Ground Support Worldwide and Airport Business magazines, and is supported by its website, AviationPros.com, and its trade show event AviationPROS Live. The Landscape Group consists of Green Industry Pros, SnowPro, Walker Talk, Planet Advantage magazines, and is supported by its website GreenIndustryPros.com. The Technology Group includes several print publications and affiliated websites, including CPA Practice Advisor (CPAPA.com), Quick Printing (MyPrintResource.com) and Automatic Merchandiser (VendingMarketWatch.com). The Technology Group also includes the following trade shows: Central Valley Facilities Expo, Southern California Facilities Expo, Northern California Facilities Expo, Pacific Coast Machine Tool Expo, Northwest Facilities Expo and Northwest Machine Tool Expo. 

The groups included in this transaction, along with the Public Safety and Transportation titles purchased in November, will operate as a division of SouthComm and continue to do business using the Cygnus Business Media moniker. 

“From the start, we were impressed with John and his team for the work they’ve done to rebuild Cygnus as both a media and technology company,” said SouthComm founder and CEO Chris Ferrell. “The business’ technical strength and integrated properties combine to support future growth and lend itself to the SouthComm portfolio of businesses. Further, we’re pleased to continue primary operations of Cygnus Business Media in Fort Atkinson, Wis., making the transition in ownership seamless to our audience and advertisers.”