Publisher Reed Elsevier, Netherlands, has announced that Gerard van de Aast will step down from the boards of Reed Elsevier on December 15, 2008 and from his position as chief executive of Reed Business. Keith Jones, currently CEO of Reed Business Information UK, will be appointed acting CEO for Reed Business Information (RBI), pending resolution of the current divestment process.
Reed Business (comprising RBI and Reed Exhibitions) has performed strongly during the eight years of Aast's leadership. During that time, RBI has been transformed from a print-based publisher to a world-leading b2b information provider, with a third of its revenues from online services, mostly built through organic development. Reed Exhibitions has become the world's largest exhibitions organiser and expanded significantly in both developed and emerging markets.
The Reed Business division comprises RBI and Reed Exhibitions. A process to divest RBI is underway. Reed Exhibitions is being retained by Reed Elsevier.
