Geopolitical effect on markets
Steve Monnington of Mayfield Merger Strategies says organisers in Russian markets are already seeing the impact of the humanitarian crisis on share prices
Two weeks in ( at the time of writing ), the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the ensuing humanitarian crisis gets grimmer by the day . The effects on business is felt by those organisers that run shows in those markets . Given that Hyve had thriving businesses in both Russia and Ukraine , their share price drop has been significant but they have reinforced their omnichannel strategy with the acquisition of US organiser Fintech Meetup . The business was launched in early 2021 by Anil Aggarwal who has a history of creating and selling technology events – Money 20 / 20 sold to Ascential and ShopTalk , Groceryshop and Retail Meetup were all previously acquired by Hyve .
The 2nd edition of Fintech Meetup which opens on 22 March was originally planned as a physical event following the virtual event launch last year . However , following feedback from the community and , against the trend of the exhibition formats of most organisers following the relaxing of Covid-19 policies in the western world , it will continue as a purely virtual event . The business is very early stage – 2021 revenue of US $ 1.3m and a loss of US $ 3.8m – but growth expectations are extremely high , as evidenced by the deal structure of US $ 5m paid now and an earnout of up to US $ 50m based on results over the next few years . Hyve sees several of its key opportunities for accelerating its omnichannel strategy in the fintech market , so we can expect Fintech Meetup to expand its operations using Hyve ’ s infrastructure . Hyve has been working steadily to rebalance their business away from the markets upon which the original ITE business was founded as evidenced by their sale of 56 non-core Russian events in 2018 and the exit from their Kazakhstan , Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan businesses in 2021 and 2021 , moving into high growth areas such as Shoptalk and the 121 mining investment business acquired at the end of 2021 .
Raccoon ’ s first acquisition Any budding event entrepreneurs who are tempted to start their own business can do no better than study the progress of Raccoon Events from its inception in 2016 , through the lockdown hell of 2020 and 2021 and out the other side into a bright 2022 . Raccoon was founded on the launch of The National Running Show and , at the time , this was the extent of CEO Mike Seaman ’ s plans .
08 — April