Sandow today announced the sale of the Furniture Today Media Group to FT Media Holdings, LLC, a newly formed private company headed by investor Matthew Slaine which makes acquisitions and investments in the business media and technology industries. Moving forward, it will operate under the new name of Progressive Business Media.

Matthew Slaine, President of FT Media Holdings, LLC; Kevin Castellani, President of Progressive Business Media and Publisher of Furniture Today.

Sandow purchased the Furniture Today Media Group from Reed Business Information in March 2010 as part of an acquisition of media properties from Reed Business Information, which also included Interior Design Media, a brand the company will retain. During the course of its ownership of the Furniture Today Media Group, Sandow increased profits by nearly 40%.

Furniture Today Media Group’s flagship brand Furniture Today, founded in 1976, publishes a weekly business newspaper in the U.S., a Chinese edition, 12 market dailies a year, and conferences including: Furniture Today’s Logistics, Leadership and Bedding Conferences, as well as the Casual Living Conference. The business includes six other publications: Casual Living, Gifts and Decorative Accessories, Home Accents Today, Home Textiles Today, Kids Today and Playthings.

Progressive Business Media offices will be located in Greensboro, North Carolina, where the Furniture Today Media Group is headquartered, as well as in New York City. Kevin Castellani, who has overseen Furniture Today’s portfolio of brands since 1993, will remain with the new company as President of Progressive Business Media and Publisher of Furniture Today. He will report to Slaine.

“We bought Furniture Today during a very challenging time for media companies,” said Sandow. “We were able to add tremendous value to the business by investing in improving the product and putting more muscle behind the group’s initiatives, including several leading industry conferences. Matt has the business acumen and vision to foster and expand an already successful business—we couldn’t be handing the reins to a better leader.”

“It has been a pleasure working with Adam over the past three years,” said Castellani. “During a tough period for the home furnishings industry, we were able to defy the odds and grow our business exponentially, which speaks to the power of our brand in this field. I’m eager to partner with Matt and our new company, Progressive Business Media, to focus on what we can do next to deepen our presence across media channels.”

“For our team, this is a long-term investment in a high-quality and growing business that serves the changing needs of a large global industry,” said Slaine. “By building on the strong foundation that Adam and his team have already created, I see a compelling opportunity to further grow the group’s multiple brands into various communication platforms and new business channels where our creativity and expertise can add significant value to our audience.”

Having worked at Goldman Sachs and Deutsche Bank, FT Media Holdings President Matthew Slaine runs a private investment firm with a focus on media and technology companies. He is a board member and investor in multiple other companies including Tradelegs LLC, a financial technology company in New York City, and Scribestar, a legal technology software company based in London.