Dealmakers

Steve Monnington Managing director

Mayfield Media Strategies

Catch up on the latest M & A activity with Steve Monnington

In reality , the up-to-date trading multiple once synergies ( cost savings ) and 2024 results to date are taken into account ( Cannes Lions and Money 2020 Europe have already traded in 2024 ) will be lower than this but will still be a very respectable double-digit multiple .

We are expecting a series of exits from Private Equity investments in exhibition organisers over the next year . There has been ongoing speculation about Blackstone ( Clarion ) and Providence ( CloserStill Media ) but the first to declare is EagleTree Partners / Wasserstein , which has owned Northstar Travel Group for eight years since acquiring it from the Wicks Group in 2016 .

The US-based Northstar business , which includes Travel Weekly , Business Travel News and The Meetings Show and whose events are said to represent 40 % of total revenues ( estimated at $ 120m ), has been put up for sale . It is likely the business will once again be acquired by Private Equity .

Another PE firm that was coming to the end of its investment time horizon is Phoenix Equity , which invested in Nineteen Group in late 2018 .

At the time , Nineteen owned the Security show and had a team of just eight people but , with Phoenix ’ s capital , they have made seven acquisitions , growing the business to 20 events with a team of 174 .

This growth has meant that the investment has been the highest performer in the fund and , rather than exit , Phoenix has retained its investment by selling to a continuation fund with additional acquisition finance provided by ARES .

Expect to see Nineteen using the additional capital to expand into new sectors .

Hyve has acquired POSSIBLE , an event bringing leaders across the marketing , media , and technology industries together .

POSSIBLE is an early-stage acquisition , having been launched by the US marketing Association MMA Global in 2023 .

In 2024 , POSSIBLE ’ s attendance reached more than 3,600 registered attendees , up more than 49 % over the inaugural event and continues Hyve ’ s focus on events that create community interaction , in this case bringing together forward-thinking leaders to discuss new ideas that will disrupt the world of marketing .

ROAR B2B , has acquired WWEM , the Water , Wastewater & Environmental Monitoring exhibition and AQE , the Air Quality and Emission exhibition from ILM Exhibitions .

The events , which are currently biennial , take place at the NEC three weeks after Roar ’ s Environmental Services Solutions Expo ( ESS ).

For 2025 the shows will become part of ESS and will be therefore annual from now on . WWEM focuses on instrumentation and services for water and wastewater process monitoring , while AQE focuses on instrumentation and services for air quality and emissions monitoring .

Over in Australia , SpecTAPular Enterprises , organiser of the Great Australasian Beer SpecTAPular ( GABS ), Hunter Valley Wine & Beer Festival , Finer Drop Premium Drinks Festival and Canberra Craft Beer & Cider Festival , has acquired the Good Food and Wine Show from Talk2 Media & Events .

Talk2 was launched by Matt Pearce in 2016 and continues to organise AIME , the leading event for the meetings , incentives and event industry in Asia Pacific owned by the Melbourne Convention Bureau . EW

Exhibition transactions and partnerships this period . ( August / September )

Buyer Business Sector Country

Global

Hyve POSSIBLE Marketing USA Roar B2B WWEM & AQE Environment UK SpecTAPular Good Food and Wine Food Australia

www . exhibitionworld . co . uk Issue 5 2024 11