M & A
Acquisition trail heating up
A busy start to the new year has seen acquisitions for Montgomery and Diversified
Montgomery acquires Halldale Group January saw global exhibition organiser and media company Montgomery Group announce major investment in Halldale Group, a company serving the aviation training, simulation and safety community. Founded more than 30 years ago by CEO Andy Smith, Halldale Group is best known for its flagship events World Aviation Training Summit( WATS) in Orlando, Florida; European Aviation Training Summit( EATS) in Cascais, Portugal, and Asia Pacific Aviation Training Summit( APATS) in Bangkok, Thailand in 2026.
The business also manages publications including Civil Aviation Training( CAT) and Military Simulation & Training( MS & T) magazines. The group has built a strong global reputation as a platform promoting simulation and training providers while connecting senior decision-makers across civil aviation, defence and advanced training sectors.
The acquisition sees Montgomery expanding its international reach and reinforcing its commitment to specialist, high-value B2B communities. Halldale Group will continue to operate under its existing brand, with its senior leadership team, including CEO Andy Smith, remaining in place.
Damion Angus, chairman and CEO of Montgomery Group, said Halldale’ s strong brands and engaged international community meant the investment aligned
well with Montgomery’ s strategy of developing strong niche sectors in high growth markets.
The addition of Halldale certainly strengthens Montgomery’ s presence in Europe and Asia-Pacific as well as creating a new base from which to develop a larger footprint in North America.
The transaction was advised by Collingwood.
Diversified acquires Marine Money January also saw global B2B events and media company Diversified, which has its HQ in Portland, Maine, USA, acquire Marine Money, a leading brand for ship finance events and publications, from International Marketing Strategies, Inc.( IMS).
Above: Andy Smith and Damion Angus
Marine Money will join Diversified’ s existing Commercial Marine portfolio of events and publications.
Founded in 1987, Marine Money supports networking and business development opportunities for C-Suite attendees.
Diversified said it would retain Marine Money’ s team, including owners Matt McCleery and Mike McCleery.
“ This is a transformational opportunity for us, and we couldn’ t be more excited about it,” said Matt McCleery.“ Diversified’ s familyowned culture and client-focused approach are a perfect fit for Marine Money, and with the support of Diversified’ s expertise and resources, we plan to take Marine Money to the next level in terms of client service and digital technology, as well as training, content, data and networking.”
Sullivan & Worcester LLP served as Diversified’ s legal counsel. Marine Money worked with broker Fusion Corporate Partners and financial advisor White Fir Global, Inc.
Before the New Year, European event graphics and structures specialist Moss was acquired by The Vomela Companies, backed by The Riverside Company. Vomela is to merge its Fusion events business unit into Moss, which will operate under the unified name‘ Moss, A Vomela Company.’ The brand will be led by Moss president and CEO Jason Popp.
“ We are excited to be back under the ownership of Riverside, the original PE owner of Moss and who acquired Vomela early in 2025,” said Popp.
The Vomela Companies is a leading North American provider of visual communications, graphics, and experiential events founded in 1947 and headquartered in Illinois.
Vomela has 20 production facilities and 1,600 + employees across North America and has supported global brands, major retailers and iconic events, including the TCS New York City Marathon. EW
12 Issue 1 2026 www. exhibitionworld. co. uk