Medical Education Firm in Irvine Sells for $111 Million

British media company United News & Media, moving to expand into the health care information market, said Friday that it acquired Irvine-based Continuing Medical Education Inc. for $111 million in cash.

Closely held Continuing Medical, which publishes Psychiatric Times and organizes more than 160 medical conferences and seminars a year, will become a subsidiary of United News’ Miller Freeman unit, the world’s largest trade show producer.

Miller, which has divisions in the United States, Europe and Asia, also publishes technical and industry-specific magazines. Its Miller Freeman Sports Group, based in Laguna Beach, publishes sports-related magazines, creates Web sites and produces trade shows, including the popular Action Sports Retailer events.

Continuing Medical, which has 107 employees, generated $7 million in operating cash flow in 1998 on sales of $28 million.

United News, which owns PR Newswire and Britain’s Express Newspapers, said Continuing Medical’s sales are expected to grow 20% a year in the first two years because of doctors’ increasing need to learn about new drugs. It estimates that continuing medical education in the U.S. is a $3-billion-a-year market.

“The alliance helps us to grow faster in the health care information services industry,” said John L. Schwartz, Continuing Medical’s chief executive. “We were a relatively small company, whereas Miller Freeman has the knowledge, experience, wisdom and capital we needed.”

Schwartz said there won’t be any job cuts as a result of the transaction and the company is planning to recruit after it’s integrated with Miller Freeman’s Healthcare Communications Group in San Francisco.

In addition to publishing Psychiatric Times, Continuing Medical publishes Medicine & Behavior, operates the U.S. Psychiatric and Mental Health Congress, maintains two Web sites and offers more than 300 multimedia home study products.