Exhibition News December 2019 | Page 8

News The Dealmaker Steve Monnington of Mayfield Media Strategies runs the rule over the latest global exhibition deals I t’s one deal per month for CloserStill Media at the moment as they announce their third acquisition in as many months – their second in Spain. Interalia, which runs Infarma – a leading tradeshow for the pharmacy sector – has sold 80% of the business. Expect the roll out of more CloserStill brands into Spain in both healthcare and tech. It also acquired Ecosalud (natural products) as part of the deal and I would expect this to be offloaded as non-core at some stage. In 2015 Tarsus decided to exit from the French market in order to concentrate on the USA and emerging markets, selling the business (which was renamed Weyou), to their French MD Romauld Gadrat for €9.2m (then £6.54m). Gadrat was backed by private equity firm FCDE. EMZ Partners have now acquired the FCDE stake with Gadrat remaining on board. Since Tarsus sold, the revenue has increased organically by an average of 18% per annum. Clarion US buys app event Clarion’s US division has acquired MAU Las Vegas, a conference and exhibition for developers of mobile applications for the 08 — December marketing and digital sector. The show was originally launched in 2014 as part of Grow.co, the world’s largest community of growth marketing professionals and brands, comprised of more than 20,000 acquisition and retention-oriented professionals. Healthcare Made Practical (HMP), the U.S based organiser of more than 300 healthcare conferences which is majority owned by Susquehanna Growth Equity has acquired Provascular GmbH, organiser of cardiovascular events in Germany. Provascular also produces the Leipzig Interventional Course , an annual global medical education conference. Italian Exhibition Group (IEG), the joint venture between Fiera di Vicenza and Rimini Fiera formed in 2016, has acquired FIMAST - the international trade fair for textile machinery and accessories - from Principemedia. IEG have also proposed the purchase of the OroArezzo and GoldItaly trade shows owned by Arezzo Fiere, the exhibition centre in Arezzo, Italy to further strengthen their position in the jewellery sector which is dominated by ‘It’s one deal per month for CloserStill Media’ their show Vicenzaoro. IEG are in five main sectors: Food & Beverage; Jewellery & Fashion; Tourism, Hospitality & Lifestyle; Wellness, Sports and Leisure; Green & Technology. Comexposium has partnered with Chinese organiser Recycling Times Media to acquire RemaxWorld Expo & Summit, an office equipment and printing consumables exhibition held in Zuhai, China. They acquired the China Stationery Fair in Shanghai at the end of 2017 giving them two locations for the sector at different times of the year. Staying in China, Meorient has become the first exhibition organiser in China to be publicly quoted with a listing on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange raising US$51m in the process. Its fastest growing brand is the China Homelife series of sourcing events which promote Chinese home products and which has been launched in 12 countries. XPO Exhibitions, the largest trade show organiser in New Zealand, has acquired a portfolio of 9 shows from North Point Events. North Point have sold their whole portfolio save for the Auckland Art Fair. The shows include baby shows, food shows and home and garden shows making XPO the largest independent organiser in Australasia.