Reed Exhibitions, part of RELX Group, has acquired retail B2B event and publishing company Legend Exhibitions.
Legend Exhibitions’ portfolio includes RBTE (Retail Business Technology Expo), Retail Design Expo, Retail Digital Signage Expo as well as three online content platforms (Essential Retail, Retail Design World and Essential Ecommerce).
The company also runs summits and forums for the retail sector that address the developments taking place in-store, online and in the multichannel environment.
Launched in 2011 and taking place in March in London, RBTE attracts more than 12,000 visitors annually, mainly retailers as well as hospitality, travel and leisure operators.
Successfully launched in 2015, the co-located Retail Design Expo attracts designers, architects, brand owners as well as retailers.
Retail Digital Signage Expo will be launched in March 2016.
Legend Exhibitions is looking to benefit from the UK retail market, valued at £433bn in 2014.
From a global perspective, the UK has the highest proportion of online sales, at 24% of its total retail sales. The UK online retail market is forecast to grow 12% this year.
Richard Mortimore, chief executive officer, Reed Exhibitions UK said: "The acquisition of Legend Exhibitions is an exciting opportunity to move into the retail technology and retail design industry.
“Retail is undergoing an unprecedented level of change principally due to ecommerce and the smart phone, resulting in exceptional innovation and new product development. This is the perfect business environment for Reed Exhibitions to become the leading provider of events that serve this sector.”
John Bednall, CEO, Legend Exhibitions added: “Legend Exhibitions is growing fast in serving this huge and exciting sector. As part of Reed Exhibitions we will be able to grow our exhibitions, summits and online magazines even faster both here in the UK and abroad.”
Darren Johnson, B2B divisional director, Reed Exhibitions UK will oversee the new events.
The Legend deal was brokered by Mayfield Media.
