MIDDLEBURG HEIGHTS, OHIO - Ad-vanstar Holdings Inc., sponsors of the Plastics Fair trade shows across the United States, signed an agreement to be acquired by Hellman & Friedman Capital Part-ners III LP for about $237 million. But the pending deal should have little effect on those shows, an Advanstar spokeswoman said. Hellman & Friedman is a San Francisco-based partnership with $1.5 billion in investment capital. Advanstar Communications, a subsidiary of Advanstar Holdings, publishes 55 business magazines and journals.
It also has expositions and conferences throughout the world.
Mary Abood, spokeswoman for the Middleburg Heights-based Advanstar Holdings, said the Plastics Fair shows will continue as they have been.
Advanstar does not anticipate immediate changes.
``Our operations will remain the same,'' Abood said. ``Obviously, down the road, with the new ownership, we expect the opportunity to grow more business.''
The company also continues to publish Plastics Compounding Redbook, an annual directory. However, Advanstar shut down four plastics magazines - Plastics Machinery & Equipment, Plastics Design Forum, Plastics Compound-ing and Advanced Composites - in December 1994.
Terms of the deal call for Hellman & Friedman to pay $237 million, subject to adjustments including the repayment of Advanstar's senior debt. The parties expect to close the transaction May 31.
Hellman & Friedman was founded in 1984 by partners Tully Friedman and Warren Hellman, initially to do leveraged buyouts, but now for equity investments in a variety of industries.
Friedman had worked for Salomon Bros. and Hellman for Lehman Bros.
Hellman & Friedman first achieved fame when they managed a leveraged buyout in 1985 of Levi Strauss & Co. of San Francisco.