Mayfield Media Strategies MD Steve Monnington charts the latest M&A activity and finds UK companies are working the acquisition trail.
In my travels around China I hear a lot from the international organisers about their interest in the second tier cities.
Strong competition in Shanghai, Shenzhen and Guangzhou both in terms of acquisitions and actual trading is starting to make life difficult for some of the international organisers. As an example, one of the biggest stories in China recently has been the developing competition in Shanghai between the new 400,000sqm Hong Qiao exhibition center and the Shanghai New International Expo Center (SNIEC), and the competitive Furniture show launch there.
One of the challenges in second tier cities such as Chengdu, Chongqing and Zhengzhou is that acquisition opportunities are limited and it is hard for international companies to add international sales to existing shows, as international exhibitors want to use their budgets to target the key cities.
Given the challenges, it’s no surprise that both Reed and UBM have decided that the best way for development is collaboration. Reed Exhibitions Greater China announced the signing of a broad agreement with the Chengdu Municipal Bureau of Exposition (CCPIT Chengdu) for strategic co-operation aimed at attracting more events to the city. UBM also announced a strategic cooperation MoU with the same government body and will cooperate on the exchange of information, talent management and training, and launching international exhibition projects in Chengdu.
According to Chinese media, UBM will launch four events and they have already announced that their aviation event World Routes will be held in Chengdu in 2016. In addition, Messe Frankfurt has launched an auto aftermarket show there, meaning that Chengdu has become the first of the second tier cities to start serious internationalisation.
Last month, the Indonesia Exhibition Forum organised by the industry association, Asperapi coincided with the holding of Indobuildtech, the largest building and construction exhibition in Jakarta.
The day before the show opened ITE announced the acquisition of 50 per cent of the organising company, Debindo Unggul Buana Makmur (expect the company to be re-named Debindo ITE). This is the largest exhibition acquisition so far in Indonesia and is in ITE’s sweet-spot. Their construction portfolio already includes shows in Russia, Turkey, Kazakhstan and India.
ITE is already involved in two exhibitions in Indonesia - Cosmobeaute and Lab -by virtue of its 50 per cent stake in Malaysian company ECMI, acquired last year. The Debindo acquisition means that four international organisers – UBM, Reed, Tarsus and ITE – are all busy growing their business in Indonesia and at the last count there were seven more international organisers looking at the market.
During the Forum, Mark Cochrane, regional manager of UFI Asia Pacific, highlighted that venue space in Jakarta will increase from 30,000sqm to 190,000sqm with the opening of two new venues in the next two to three years. This, together with the international organiser interest, should put Indonesia right at the top of the ASEAN exhibition market.
This was first published in issue 3/4 of EW. Any comments? Email Annie Byrne
