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more open to the value proposition . More open also to the fact that live events and media needs to be more targeted , not just getting 10,000 people in a room , but making sure we get the right people in .
Now as events open up seeing slightly smaller shows , smaller audiences , but the quality is better and that ’ s all about how you are better implementing technology to create communities , and how you ’ re better at integrating data and understanding the people you need to connect .
What qualities in events businesses are attractive to PE investors ? Prior to Covid-19 they were very robust , predictable and didn ’ t stop . One of the big things I ’ ve seen over the past couple of years is the appetite for our industry remains . There ’ s plenty of people who want to invest . The way we book means you get very good visibility
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of the way it is going forward . It ’ s very cash positive , the risks are relatively balanced , most of the costs are flexible . The financial characteristics are very interesting from the perspective of PE , as it the ability to scale up .
Even with the mega-deal of Informa buying UBM , the two biggest players of our industry , still account for less than 10 % in an industry that continues to grow .
What sort of businesses are you looking to invest in ? We want strong brands , brands that are well known and respected within their respective industry . We want real community focus . Where a business has the capability to be at the centre of their industry or is well embedded in their industry , that includes the opportunity for content , written or live or digital .
How do you see the future of events businesses ? I think when we get back to the same cadence of business and good strong events running – which is probably 2023 – the more important question will be what will it be like ?
I ’ d like to think this is the wake up call for us as an industry .
If I ’ m really critical , the industry spent a lot of time building big venues , it ’ s very good at building shows , very good at rebooks and sales and less good at understanding the dynamics of why people are there , which is to meet each other , and buy and sell and do business .
When you compare our medium – putting thousands of people in a room – versus more focused medium , digital , online , social media where you have very clear targeted metric , that is what has got to change .
The industry of the future will be fully engaged , embracing content and other media , even though at the core of it live media may still be the biggest and most important revenue generator .
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“ Even with the megadeal of Informa buying UBM , the two biggest players of our industry , still account for less than 10 % in an industry that continues to grow ” |
What ’ s coming up for Arc ? We ’ re very focused on partnership and working with operators , owners and associations . What makes our industry magic is the people who are in it . Often the private owners of businesses are the ones who have the connections , have the drive , the market .
We are looking at acquisitions in Europe and North America and the market is very good at the moment . We have lots of people we are talking to .
We should be announcing some more deals in the coming months .
We ’ re lucky because were at the start of our investment cycle , which means we have different dynamics to my friends at Comexposium , Clarion , Tarsus . That doesn ’ t put them in a bad position , just a different position .
We want to invest more and continue to grow .
Any final thoughts ? One of the things I ’ ve learnt a lot over past four years is how many misconceptions there are about PE . A lot of people ’ s opinion of PE companies is they are nasty people who will come in and break companies up , or they ’ ll cut costs or try and squeeze every bit of profit out . That ’ s categorically not true . Yes , PE is interested in money , but they are about creating value . I have had pleasure to work with two [ Charterhouse at Comexposium and EagleTree at Arc ].
They have both been really invested in growing the business . Not because they are generous because they realise that ’ s how they can make value going forward . I think they are very positive for our industry .
My opinion of PE was probably very different when I was in a public company .
( This interview was originally published in Exhibition News , March 2022 )
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