M&A
The Dealmaker
Steve Monnington of Mayfield Media Strategies runs the
rule over the latest global exhibition deals
T
arsus don’t hang about. Less
than 2 months after their
de-listing as a plc and acquisition
by Charterhouse have completed,
they’ve announced two new deals
– in China and Egypt.
The China acquisition sees
them acquire 70% of Shenzhen
Zhong Xin Cai Exhibition
Company, owner of Touch China
& 3D Glass Expo, creating a 6th
Chinese JV for them. It’s their
first entry into the electronics
sector there – one of the new
sectors where they aim to deploy
the Charterhouse capital - and it
adds to their base of exhibitions
in Shenzhen which includes SIUF
(International Brand Underwear
Fair) and Hometex (home
furnishings). Touch China is in
competition with Reed’s C-Touch
and Display which Reed acquired
in 2015 from a local organiser.
Meanwhile in Egypt they
have created Tarsus Egypt
as a joint venture with Amr
Shawki, Chairman of local
organiser, Egytec. Shawki has
launched many exhibitions
in Egypt over the years and
he sold his Electricx, Mefsec
(Fire & Security) and Solar-
Tec Exhibitions to Informa in
2014. Initially Tarsus Egypt will
concentrate on replicating shows
from their portfolio, the first
of which will be Zuchex Cairo.
08 — November
Tarsus acquired Zuchex in Turkey
when they bought 70% of Life
Medya in 2012 (and subsequently
acquired the remaining 30%).
We can expect to see other
replications from their Turkish
and Middle East portfolio and no
doubt some acquisitions too.
There’s always a lot of
speculation about how long
Private Equity firms intend to
hold their investment before
exiting but I think we have a
new record for the shortest. LDC
acquired conference producer
FC Business Intelligence (FCBI)
at the end of August 2018 and
have now sold it on to Thomson
Reuters a little over 13 months
later. FCBI will become part of
Reuters Events and one suspects
management pressure as this is
clearly a much more strategic
play for them than straight PE
ownership.
Easyfairs have stepped up their
M&A activity with two deals
this month. The acquisition of
Futurebuild Events finally brings
the Ecobuild saga to a conclusion.
Ecobuild was acquired by
UBM through its acquisition of
International Business Events
in 2011 for around £50m. The
show went downhill and was
taken off UBM’s hands through a
management buy-out in 2017 by
the divisional director, Martin
Hurn. Having rebranded as
Futurebuild and having re-
vitalised the show, Hurn has now
sold to Easyfairs but will continue
to run the business with plans to
launch more events in the sector.
Easyfairs’ portfolio of building
& construction exhibitions,
currently spans Belgium, the
Netherlands, Sweden and
Denmark.
Easyfair’s second deal takes
them to Italy with a majority
stake in Packaging Première in
Milan, a exhibition that focusses
on packaging for luxury goods
such as fashion, cosmetics, wines
and spirits and fine foods. The
show, which has run three times
so far, joins Easyfair’s portfolio
of 31 packaging shows and marks
their first real move into the
Italian market.
Finally, Deutsche Messe has
acquired three digital events
in Australia and New Zealand
from Australian event organizer
The Eventful Group who also
organise a number of other events
– primarily tech conferences – in
Australia and South Africa. The
events sold are Legal Innovation
and Tech Fest, held in Sydney
and HR Innovation and Tech Fest
which takes place in both Sydney
and Auckland NZ. The shows
will be part of Hannover Fairs
Australia which already organises
editions of CEBIT and CEMAT
there.