Dealmakers
The effect on acquisitions
After a flurry of deals in December the new year has been quiet for M & A activity says Steve Monnington , of Mayfield Merger Strategies . But he predicts private equity deals will dominate for the rest of the year and into the next few
After the flurry of deals ( seven ) in
December , the new year has started relatively quietly . The Italian Exhibition Group ( IEG ), was formed in 2016 by the merger of Rimini Fiera and Fiera di Vicenza . Their acquisition strategy is focused on acquisitions in their core sectors and is targeted both within Italy and internationally . Wellness and sports is a key sector ( RiminiWellness is one of their main brands ). In October 2020 they moved into a brand new territory when they acquired HBG Events , organiser of the Dubai Muscle Show and Dubai Active ( a small deal worth around € 900k plus an earnout ). Now they have moved into another new geography in the same sector , acquiring Brasil Trading Fitness Fair which focuses on sports equipment , supplements , healthy and organic food as well as fitness clothing and accessories .
It ’ s unusual to see large organisers set up new subsidiaries in new geographical markets for single show acquisitions so we should expect IEG to target acquisitions in Dubai and Brazil in other key sectors such as food and beverage , jewellery and fashion and lifestyle and innovation .
Messe Munich has acquired Asia Climate Forum ( ACF ) from Media Generation Ventures and , in 2022 , will run it alongside the CleanEnviro Summit Singapore owned by the National Environment Agency , and Singapore International Water Week
which is owned by Singapore ’ s Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment and PUB , Singapore ’ s National Water Agency . Both co-located shows are biennial . ACF was launched in 2014 and is the umbrella for three distinct exhibitions - InterMET , InterFLOOD and InterAIR . It will join Messe Munich ’ s portfolio of events in the environment sector – including IFAT , the world ’ s leading exhibition for Water , Sewage , Waste and Raw Materials and the IE Expo series in China which focuses on Environmental Technology Solutions for Water , Waste , Air and Soil .
Media Generation has a long history in the energy and environment sector having launched All Energy which became the UK ’ s leading alternative energy exhibition and conference and was acquired by Reed Exhibitions in 2011 .
Infopro Digital , one of the top 10 French technology groups has acquired EventMaker , a French company that has created web-based software to manage physical , virtual and hybrid events for trade fairs , congresses , event agencies and corporate events . With virtual events booming during lockdown and hybrid events popular as organisers combine physical and digital , this is a crowded market but Infopro are present in 17 countries and the potential for international expansion must have been a key factor in the sale .
Role of private equity This edition of Exhibition News focuses on the role that PE plays in the exhibition sector . A few weeks ago , I was interviewed by Dan Assor for the Dan Assor Show on LinkedIn Live . For 30 minutes we talked about the effect of the pandemic on acquisitions , whether the M & A market has recovered and
08 — March