M&A
The
Dealmaker
Steve Monnington of Mayfield Media
Strategies runs the rule over the latest
global exhibition deals
T
he big news this month was
the proposed privatisation
and acquisition of Tarsus by
Charterhouse Capital Partners
demonstrating the ever-
increasing power of private equity
money in the exhibition sector.
Tarsus Group was founded by
Neville Buch in 1998 following
the sale of Blenheim to United
News & Media (UBM). The bid,
which came at a premium of 36
per cent to the share price and
values the company at £668m
including the taking over of the
debt, represents a multiple of
17x average 2017 & 2018 EBITDA
(averaged because Tarsus has
several biennial shows). Because
Tarsus is a publicly traded stock,
it can’t reflect the valuation as a
multiple of more current profits
but I would estimate that this is
likely to be around 14.5x average
2018 & 2019 EBITDA which puts
in more in line with some of the
other recent large deals we’ve
seen.
Charterhouse has experience
of the sector from its stake in
Comexposium and it hasn’t
wasted any time in re-investing,
having sold its Comexposium
stake in March this year to
Credit Agricole Insurance. If
other PE deals are anything to
go by, Tarsus will become more
acquisitive and will have the
10 — July
capital to make larger purchases.
The Tarsus transaction is likely
to complete in the third quarter
of 2019. It is theoretically
possible that a counterbidder
could come in with a higher
price, but this is unlikely as
shareholders representing more
than 40 per cent of the shares,
including some of the largest
institutional shareholders, have
signed irrevocable undertakings
to vote in favour of the sale to
Charterhouse.
UK organiser Immediate Media
has followed up its acquisition
of Upper Street Events earlier
this year by acquiring a majority
stake in River Street Events,
organiser of consumer food and
gardening events including the
BBC Good Food shows and BBC
Gardeners World Live. River
Street started life in August 2013
as a management buyout of the
BBC brands from Haymarket
Exhibitions. MD Laura Biggs, who
will stay with Immediate through
2020, was backed in the original
MBO by a number of industry
figures such as Richard Hease,
Keith Harris and Paul Michael.
To Germany where MCH,
the swiss-based organiser of
the leading art fair series Art
Basel, is selling its 25.1 per
cent in Cologne-based art.fair
International, organiser of Art
Dusseldorf. The buyers are serial
art fair investors Sandy Angus
and Tim Etchells who have made
the acquisition through Angus
Montgomery and TFI Ltd. Angus
also acquired a further 15 per cent
from Art Dusseldorf’s majority
owners Walter Gehlen and
Andreas Lohaus. MCH has made
a decision to concentrate on its
global Art Basel brand and sell its
investments in regional shows.
In the USA, Naylor Association
Solutions, provider of software
and event services to trade
organisers and associations, has
acquired TechMedia, organiser
of 20 conferences across the US
and Canada. The Digital Summit
series covers all forms of digital
marketing along with Search
Engine Optimisation and UX
design. Naylor is yet another
private equity-owned business
in the events space, having been
acquired by RLJ Equity in 2013.
Another company acquiring
conferences in order to aid the
growth of its existing non-events
business is Second Street Media
Solutions, a US company which
provides audience engagement
software to media companies.
It has acquired Niche Media,
organiser of the Super Niche
conference, which covers creative
business strategies for niche
publisher as well as smaller
CEO summits aimed at B2B and
consumer magazine publishers.
Finally, we have the first
cannabis show acquisition with
Leafbuyer Technologies, the
digital information service
and market place for cannabis
users, acquiring the Las Vegas
exhibition CBD, which itself has
partnered with VAPEXPO. There
are plans to expand the show into
Europe and Asia in 2020.