Real Estate Media will operate as an independent business unit of ALM, and REM president and CEO Jonathan A. Schein will continue to direct the unit, as he has since 1999. Both groups are owned by US Equity Partners LP, a private equity fund sponsored by Wasserstein & Co.

But changes will take place for both operations as a result of the marriage. For Real Estate Media, which also publishes Real Estate New York, Real Estate New Jersey, Real Estate Southern California, GlobeSt.com/RETAIL and a host of online newsletters, the acquisition will provide what Schein calls "incredible access to expansion capital." On a clear growth trajectory over the past five years, the firm last made headlines with its purchase in October 2004 of the Los Angeles-based Real Estate Conference Group.

The merger will also "provide access to the critical legal marketplace as well as the ability to tap into ALM's expertise in many related areas, such as conference management and online and database publishing," Schein adds.

For ALM, the acquisition, which follows a major company refinancing, "is consistent with our announced plans to extend the ALM brand to serve professionals in a variety of adjacent business sectors and geographies," according to William Pollak, president and CEO. "With our new capital structure in place, ALM will continue to broaden its customer base beyond the legal community. REM is an acknowledged leader in the commercial real estate sector, an area of high business activity for the legal profession, with strong overlaps in information needs."