Steve Monnington, MD of Mayfield Media Strategies runs the rule over the latest global exhibition deals.
October saw UBM take the industry by surprise by announcing it’s intention to acquire US based organiser Advanstar for $972m making UBM the largest exhibition organiser in the USA ahead of Reed. Exhibitions. It was a surprise because Advanstar has been owned by several private equity funds over the years and most people expected that current owners Veronis Suhler Stevenson (along with Anchorage Capital Group) would sell onto another financial purchaser.
It’s a bold first move by new CEO Tim Cobbold and rather than fund it by the sale of PR Newswire, UBM will raise a significant portion of the money by a rights issue. The portfolio of 54 trade shows and over 100 conferences cover a number of sectors including fashion, licensing and life sciences.
US based organiser Questex, which runs exhibitions for the hospitality and travel, beauty and life sciences sectors has been acquired by Shamrock Capital Advisors.
It was only five years ago that Questex filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and emerged under the ownership of several of their banks. In that time Kerry Gumas has created a company with revenues said to be in excess of $100m.
If this wasn’t enough there is also speculation that UK based Clarion Events will be sold soon.
There are a number of similarities between Advanstar and Clarion, Veronis Suhler Stevenson are also the financial investor in Clarion and one may note that both companies have had a succession of private equity owners.
So if the rumours are true will this be another private equity deal or will a trade buyer step in and surprise us again?
After a long period of mainly small strategic deals in emerging markets, the USA and UK exhibition markets are being shaken up.
We shouldn’t be surprised given the rising economic sentiment for both countries.
This week the IMF said that, among advanced countries, the UK and USA are leaving the financial crisis behind and achieving decent growth.
Diversified Communications has made a purchase in the Asian market. The firm has bought Arowana International’s training and events division, HRM Asia Pte for SG$9.8m (US$7.7m). HRM is a Singapore-based training, professional development and information services provider for human resource professionals and executives. Mayfield Media Strategies assisted in the deal.
We also have the sale of the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham, UK to look forward to in the next few months and I have a feeling that this new trend won’t stop there.
This article was first published in issue 4 of EW. Any comments? Email Antony Reeve-Crook
