Former owner of Mack Brooks exhibitions company, Stephen Brooks, has made a comeback into the B2B events space, three years after selling his company to Reed Exhibitions (RX).
He tells EW exclusively that his new company, Market Dynamics Media (MDM), has acquired majority ownership of DCD International Ltd, organiser of data centre events worldwide and producer of training and on-line marketing services for the data management infrastructure sector; the former (events) represents 40% of profitability, the latter (on-line) represents 60%.
Industry veteran and former Clarion boss Simon Kimble will chair the new company and own 2.5% of the shares. Brooks will own 77.5% and the remaining 20% is owned by existing management led by founder of DCD International, George Rockett.
Brooks tells EW the company will be pursuing an integrated hybrid approach, 60% on-line/40% events. MDM, he says, aims to develop B2B platforms for niche markets “that provide compelling, sector-specific, global, 24/7 interaction, content and training; enabling buyers and suppliers to find one another at a time and in a manner that suits them, allowing them to access market data and learn from it at digitally-enabled scale and speed”.
Brooks is clearly eager to get started again in the industry and tells EW: “I can’t wait to be working with George Rockett and Simon Kimble”.
“The shift to digital is having a significant impact upon events of course,” he adds, “but face-to-face remains a key part of the mix in most sectors. The important thing for MDM is that its B2B platforms place digital first, with events organised at a time and in an environment that’s optimal for this approach.”
And, it appears there is more acquisition action to come: “Our first acquisition, DCD International, focuses upon data management infrastructure but we aim to be in, at least, three additional sectors in the short-term, either via acquisition or launch”.
The DCM business filed £8.4m (US$9m) in revenues in 2021, up from £5.6m in 2020 but still shy of the 2019 figure of £10.5m. Full financial details of the value of the deal have not been disclosed.
