WORLD - United Business Media has acquired medical and manufacturing trade show and media company Canon Communications from Spectrum Equity Investors and Apprise Media for US$287m.
The deal positions UBM as one of the leading international providers of trade shows and related media for the growing medical device design and manufacturing market and adjacent advanced manufacturing sectors. Canon’s trade shows and conferences include Medical Design and Manufacturing (MD&M) East, West, and Minneapolis. MD&M East (New York) and West (California) are among the world’s largest trade events for companies seeking medical products and services.
The acquisition complements UBM’s existing electronic engineering business, creating a richer set of information and marketing services. UBM said in a statement that it expects a return on investment in its first year exceeding the cost of its capital outlay.
UBM CEO David Levin, pictured, said the acquisition builds on UBM’s track record of “identifying, completing and integrating value-enhancing acquisitions” over the last five years. “Canon is a great strategic fit for us: it gives us a complementary portfolio of market-leading branded tradeshows and related products which serve highly attractive growth markets experiencing globalisation,” he said.
“The combination of Canon’s brands with both our worldwide infrastructure and our existing electronic engineering business offers us exciting growth opportunities, particularly in Canon’s core medical device design and manufacturing markets.” The $287m consideration represents a multiple of 7.8 x EBITDA, and UBM said the deal will be funded from existing bank facilities.
“The management team, led by Charlie McCurdy, has done a great job in developing the Canon business. I look forward to welcoming Canon’s staff to UBM and to working with them as we accelerate Canon’s growth," added Levin.
Canon also produces the broad-based Pacific and Atlantic Design and Manufacturing shows, which co-locate with MD&M East and West, OEM New England, and Electronics West. The MEDTEC event serves the European and Chinese medical device manufacturing communities, while PLASTEC serves the plastics industry and is co-located with MD&M East and West.
Packaging industry events EastPack, WestPack, MidPak, and SouthPack round out Canon’s worldwide family of trade events.
