IBEX acquires Professional Boatbuilder Magazine

Nov 26, 2024

The International BoatBuilders’ Exhibition and Conference (IBEX), North America’s premier trade event for the recreational marine industry, has acquired Professional BoatBuilder magazine (ProBoat), the marine sector’s leading technical publication and online information source. 

The ProBoat purchase promises to marry the vitality of IBEX’s live trade event to the magazine’s depth of editorial coverage, creating an unparalleled platform for technical education, professional development, and independent editorial exploration of defining industry trends. Together, they will offer a seamless integration of the live, in-person IBEX experience with the expert insights and technical expertise readers have come to trust from Professional BoatBuilder magazine. 

The combination builds on a history of partnership – the magazine’s editorial staff has helped produce the invaluable technical seminar series at the show since its launch in 1992. Today’s announcement assures the continuation of that collaboration and confirms IBEX’s commitment to deliver indispensable technical and trade information for boat designers, builders, and service technicians whenever and wherever they need it. 

“This acquisition represents a powerful synergy between two leading and trusted brands in the marine industry,” said Anne Dunbar, Executive Director. “By combining our annual event with Professional BoatBuilder’s trusted technical journalism, we’re creating a robust, continuous pipeline of information and an opportunity for our entire community.”

IBEX hired ProBoat editor Aaron Porter as editorial director when the magazine’s prior owners announced they would cease publication of the magazine in September. 

Porter said last Friday, “I welcome the chance to keep producing the essential boatbuilding information our readers have come to rely on and the challenge of pursuing that goal in a rapidly evolving print and digital publishing environment. We’ll be working with largely the same editorial contributors but with some changes to the delivery media.”

The IBEX team will be discussing initial plans for the editorial future at their stand (HF.01) at METSTRADE in Amsterdam this week.

Plans are under way to integrate the technical content Professional BoatBuilder magazine is known for with IBEX 365, the show’s online platform for product promotion, education, and show-related news. Additional details will be available in early 2025 along with updates for ProBoat subscribers and advertisers. For more information, visit www.ibexshow.com.