Dealmakers
Group Corporation ), has signed a definitive agreement to acquire a majority stake in the China Hospital Construction Conference ( CHCC ) which runs in Shenzhen . Although it ’ s called a conference , this is an exhibition for hospital design , build and management covering more than 100,000sqm with over 600 exhibitors as well as over 80 conference sessions . Sinopharm is the largest medical and healthcare group in China and the JV runs 30 events covering healthcare , health education and scientific research . Meanwhile in the USA , Questex , owned by Private Equity firm Mid-Ocean partners , has acquired the assets of Digital Sign Expo from previous owner Exponation LLC who filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in September last year as a result of having to postpone the 2020 event twice due to Covid . The acquisition adds to the Questex ‘ Live Experience ’ assets , in particular LDI ( Live Design ) which connects design , technology and production to the live audience experience and was acquired from Informa in December 2019 as part of a larger non-core disposal by Informa which also included Club Industry and World Tea
Expo . Hyve continued their strategy of disposing of non-core assets with the sale of ITECA LLP , the operating company for 25 of the Group ’ s non-core , regionally focused events in Kazakhstan , to ICA ( JV ) Limited , a company owned and operated by a former consultant to Hyve in the region . This completes the Group ’ s planned exit of its business in Central Asia following the sale of their Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan businesses last year . Immediate Media , the UK ’ s second largest magazine publisher and owned by German publisher Burda , has completed the full acquisition of River Street Events ( which it had
“ To counteract lower levels of 2021 profits , smart buyers are discussing extended earnouts so that the seller has the opportunity to get full value for the business if it gets back to normal levels of profitability .”
acquired 57 % of in 2019 ). It will merge the company with Upper Street Events which it acquired in early 2019 and will rebrand the combined events portfolios as Immediate Live . So , once again this month we see the combination of strategic acquisitions in a growth market , the opportunistic acquisition of Covid-related assets and non-core disposals - a continuing theme of what we have seen over the last year in exhibition M & A . The two questions I am asked most at the moment are : is M & A getting back to normal , and what are the Post-Covid multiples ? The answer to the first question is ‘ no ’. The reason why buyers put deals on hold back in March 2020 was because they had no idea how the pandemic would play out . They continued to be on hold through the last year because of the lack of visibility regarding when the next edition might take place , and this is still very much the case . This will mean a gradual start to M & A again . There is not enough current data to answer the question about multiples as several of the recent transactions have been Covid related . Many buyers expect multiples to have dropped but entrepreneurs will not accept significant lower valuations , preferring to wait until they have built their business back to 2019 levels of profitability . To counteract lower levels of 2021 profits , smart buyers are discussing extended earnouts so that the seller has the opportunity to get full value for the business if it gets back to normal levels of profitability . Among all this uncertainty , one certainty is that Private Equity appetite for the sector will continue and PE firms don ’ t seem to have been put off by the trading issues of the last 15 months . In fact , a new PE / entrepreneur relationship has been announced with New York based private equity firm EagleTree Capital backing a buy and build exhibition strategy led by Simon Foster , formerly with UBM and Comexposium . EagleTree already have experience in the sector with an existing investment in Northstar Travel Group and a previous investment in Penton . This adds another buyer to the mix although with no transactions announced , we don ’ t yet know about their aspirations regarding geography , sectors and size .
June — 07