Exhibition International Investment Partners Pte Ltd (EIIP) and Abacus Capital (S) Pte Ltd have announced the formation of the first global fund headquartered in Singapore investing in the exhibition and events industry.
The Arena MICE Equity Fund says it is offering a unique opportunity to gain exposure to the recovery and growth of the MICE Industry, in the absence of dedicated indices, ETFs or funds for this sector.
The initial Fund size is US$50m and the minimum investment is US$500,000
Covid-19 has heavily impacted exhibition organisers, venues, and travel operators, resulting in depressed share prices of the listed companies in the industry. The Fund’s portfolio will consist of publicly-listed MICE and MICE-related stocks and it says it expects to invest in up to 20 stocks listed across major global stock exchanges.
The Fund’s publicity notes negative impact of the pandemic on the MICE industry has led to cash flow shortages and capital needs for most of the “creating a window of opportunity for consolidation and growth. Larger and more resilient companies with strong balance sheets, which Arena will target for investment, are now able to increase their market share globally. The easing of travel restrictions in North America and Europe is witnessing a gradual return of physical events in 2021 and a growing pipeline of planned events and exhibitions”.
The Fund is led by a team of CEOs and business leaders in the MICE industry, including Simon Foster and David Audrain as advisers, with each individual having over 20 years of experience running companies with global operations. Under the umbrella of EIIP, they will form a Board of Advisers for the fund.
Bjoern Kempe, lead advisor and chairman of EIIP says: “The exhibition industry severely suffered and until now is still suffering from the Covid-19 pandemic. I was pained to see many companies lay off staff and put on hold their valuable and precious operations that are essential for world trade. I believe the formation of the Fund that invests in publicly-listed companies active in the MICE industry can not only support troubled companies and provide capital but, most importantly, the Fund will draw attention to this very important business sector. With growing global consolidation of the industry, the Fund will play an important role for all investors that are interested in this exciting sector.”
Hogi Hyun, managing director at Abacus Capital, adds: “The MICE industry is a large untapped sector with no dedicated funds or ETFs for investors. Listed MICE stocks due to the global pandemic are expected to rally as global vaccination efforts will enable business travel to resume and the MICE sector to reopen from 2022 onwards.”
Abacus Capital is an Asian investment management group headquartered in Singapore.
The Fund is aiming to attract US$100m of investment in the launch year. Investors are able to obtain further information and detailed investors presentations from EIIP and Abacus direct.
