M&A
The
Dealmaker
Steve Monnington of Mayfield Media
Strategies runs the rule over the latest
global exhibition deals
C
loser Still Media have
followed up last month’s
acquisition of the e-commerce
shows in Spain by partnering
with Healthcare Publishing and
Events, organiser of the Diabetes
Professional Care exhibition and
conference (DPC), which will
become part of their growing
portfolio of healthcare events.
DPC is the UK’s leading show
for healthcare professionals
involved in the treatment
and management of diabetes.
Launched in 2015, the show is in
its fast growth phase, needing a
larger infrastructure to handle
its further development. The
model – free CPD accredited
education for the professionals
and a large exhibition of vendors
to the sector - is in line with
the Closer Still approach.
DPC was created by Maggie
Meer who also launched Cloud
Expo Europe which she sold to
Closer Still in 2011, and which
has driven the growth of their
cluster of tech shows both in the
UK and abroad.
When ITE acquired Ascential
Events from Ascential PLC
in May last year the portfolio
included BVE Expo – the
leading broadcast, production
and media tech exhibition in
the UK – which was decidedly
non-core. So it’s no surprise
10 — October
that Media Business Insight,
owner of the Media Production
and Technology (MTPS) has
acquired the assets of BVE. As
part of the deal arrangements,
BVE has been closed leaving a
newly expanded MTPS as the
single show for the sector.
Following their recent
investment in Art Dusseldorf,
Angus Montgomery are further
consolidating their position in
the art fair world, buying out
the 65% majority stake in the
India Art Fair owned by MCH
Group, owner of Art Basel.
The acquisition is being made
through their Hong Kong based
company Angus Montgomery
Arts, adding to their existing
portfolio of art fairs including
Sydney Contemporary, Art
Central Hong Kong and Art SG
in Singapore. In my July column
I mentioned that MCH had
decided to concentrate on their
global Art Basel brand and sell
their investments in regional
shows.
It’s always a difficult decision
for an association to take a
capital sum for what is often
their main revenue stream
so sometimes more creative
patnerships are called for. In
the USA, the International
Sanitary Supply Association
(ISSA) has created a 25 year
agreement with Informa
markets whereby Informa
will take over the running of
ISSA North America, the main
show for the cleaning sector
while ISSA will continue with
the conference programming.
This combines the skill sets of
both organisations and enables
Informa to put their sales and
marketing resource to work
while retaining a strong working
link with the members who drive
the important topics that need
debating. With a high proportion
of US trade shows owned by
associations this could be a
blueprint for the future.
It’s the Exhibition News
Indy Awards soon and Mayfield
are proud to be the strategic
partner. There has been an
88% increase on the number
of entries from last year
and it’s great to see so many
entrepreneurs engaged. Maddox
Events, who were featured in the
first of our Rising Stars series
back in March, obviously want to
emulate serial EN main awards
winners Closer Still Media and
they dominate the shortlist for
the individual awards – Best
Newcomer and Unsung Hero.
We can expect to see many
of the shortlisted shows and
companies being acquired by the
larger organisers over the next
few years and these awards are a
good way of raising their profile.