M & A
2025 – A look back and forwards as M & A activity continues apace into the year
John McGovern, CEO Grimes McGovern & Associates, digs into the deals of 2025 and recaps some of Q1 2026 activity
vents M & A in 2026 got
E off to a strong start, with 14 event deals in January and February, compared to eight last year in the same period. Notably, only about 25 % of the deals in this period have involved Private Equity firms, with February having no PE-related deals. That will probably switch around by the end of the year. We wouldn ' t be surprised if PE’ s share came in above last year’ s 46 % of event deals.
In an unusual development, Media10 acquired Futurebuild, a UK built-environment trade show, from international organiser Easyfairs. Easyfairs is an organiser backed by Inflexion and Cobepa, both European PE firms. It is not very common that Private Equity sells a stand-alone event from their portfolio as a carveout. Since Media10 plans to organise Futurebuild along with their existing
UK Construction Week, this event is perhaps more strategically valuable to the buyer, who already has a strong portfolio in construction.
We decided to divest Futurebuild as it was a bit of an outlier in our UK portfolio and we felt it would be better placed in a company with a strong portfolio of building material products events and in turn this enables us to focus on some more strategic opportunities. – Matt Benyon, group CEO at Easyfairs
An interesting observation in the data is that both traditional and‘ new economy’ segments of the events industry remain active in M & A. Long-standing B2B trade shows and conference brands changed hands among established organisers: Fiera Milano acquired Made in Steel – an international steel industry event. Koru Media, a UK-based B2B publishing
Above: John McGovern Jan-Feb 2026 majority event deals
Company / Event Buyer Deal Date ARRtist Nobel Recruitment 26 / 02 / 2026 E-Sports Evolution RTS 20 / 02 / 2026 Made in Steel Fiera Milano 17 / 02 / 2026 Networld Media Group Connect Group Media 30 / 01 / 2026 The Print Show Koru Media 28 / 01 / 2026 Halldale Group Montgomery Group 20 / 01 / 2026 Rheumatology Winter Clinical Symposium MJH Life Sciences( GenHenn Capital) 15 / 01 / 2026 CEO Roundtable Chief Executive Group( Greenhaven Partners) 15 / 01 / 2026 Futurebuild Media 10 14 / 01 / 2026 Euroforum Cegos( Bridgepoint Group) 14 / 01 / 2026 Mad World PMGroup Worldwide 14 / 01 / 2026 Marine Money Diversified Communications 12 / 01 / 2026 SubSummit Nineteen Group( Phoenix Equity Partners) 06 / 01 / 2026 Mediapro Messut Expomark 02 / 01 / 2026 company, integrated the events The Print Show and The Sign Show. These transactions reflect continued consolidation among operators built around traditional industrial trade shows, professional conferences, and sector-specific communities.
On the other hand, buyers are actively pursuing new economy, digitally connected and niche event brands. MAD World Summit, a UKbased B2B HR event was acquired by PMGroup Worldwide, expanding their media and events portfolio. With this acquisition PMGroup expanded their traditional pharmaceuticals and healthcare portfolio into the workplace culture and wellbeing space. RTS acquired the esports event platform E-Sports Evolution, an investment in digitally native and rapidly growing event formats tied to gaming and entertainment audiences. These newer segments often combine live events, streaming, digital communities, and sponsorship, making them attractive growth areas within the broader events landscape.
For a more comprehensive look at M & A trends over the past three years and the beginning of 2026, see our M & A Activity Update Report available at mediamergers. com / news. EW
n Grimes, McGovern & Associates is a leading lower middle-market Mergers & Acquisitions firm advising media, events, and information services businesses globally. www. exhibitionworld. co. uk Issue 2 2026 11