Wiley acquires newsletters from Manisses; Co. joins partnership to launch health site

Business Publisher, July 31, 2005

John Wiley & Sons (Hoboken, NJ) has acquired the newsletter publishing division of Manisses Communications Group (Providence, RI), a provider of mental health and addiction information. No terms of the deal were given.

The purchased assets include seven newsletters that provide news, analysis, updates, research and information on trends for professionals in the fields of addiction, behavioral healthcare and pharmacology. Titles include "Alcoholism & Drug Abuse Weekly" for addiction professionals, "Mental Health Weekly" for mental health administrators, "Brown University Child & Adolescent Psychopharmacology Update," a monthly that covers specific interventions with children and adolescents, "Brown University Geriatric Psychopharmacology Update," a monthly on the use of psychotropic medications in geriatrics, "Brown University Psychopharmacology Update," a monthly that advises mental health professionals on treating behavior disorders, and "Brown University Child and Adolescent Behavior Letter," a monthly that covers working with troubled children and adolescents. An annual subscription to either "Mental Health Weekly" or "Alcoholism & Drug Abuse Weekly" costs $687. An annual subscription to any of the five remaining titles costs $190 for individuals and $237 for institutions.

Wiley executive vice president Stephen Kippur said the deal "enables Wiley to expand our presence in this important subject area and provide practical, must-have information to behavioral science professionals." Wiley currently publishes a wide range of books and journals in a variety of psychology categories, including addictions, developmental psychology, social psychology and educational and school psychology.

Manisses will continue to produce "Addiction Professional" and "Behavioral Healthcare Tomorrow" magazines, as well as books, white papers, audio conferences and special reports.

In related news, Wiley has joined with 22 other STM publishers and three voluntary health organizations, including the American Cancer Society, the American heart Association and the American Diabetes Association, to launch 'patientInform," a new site that provides patients, caregivers and the general public access to medical research from the publishers' journals. Access to the information is free.

Also, Wiley said that revenue for the year ending April 30, 2005 totaled $974 million, a 5.5% increase over the $923 recorded in 2004. Net income for the period increased 6.4%, going from $85.8 million in 2004 to $91.3 million in 2005.