Comment
rbin Butcher is MD of
ue-based exhibition stand
ign and supplier, Beire.
www.beire.eu.
T: +420 325 553 620
e: New York based
nt managers allocated
s of millions of dollars
oney to an exhibition
r while in lockdown. They
d the market capitalisation
rom their homes.
are not ordinary investors
he existing shareholder
Who’s Who of the most
l institutional investors
rld: Blackrock, Newton,
PG and Fidelity are bluepanies
that represent the
c interests of millions of
ingapore’s sovereign wealth
m a country that is perhaps
hypervigilant about
icable diseases) was the lead
. Together they endorsed the
at Informa laid out.
st-Covid exhibitions
will have enhanced
rity measures: on-site
ture screening, omnipresent
itation, and deep cleaning
s. Stand builders will
around stand flow,
tancing, and sanitation
s. Entry management will
lised with more complex
ethods. As exhibitions
eturn to Asia, a ‘playbook’
ping as best practices are
in real time.
erm performance is looking
g via technical stock
analysis. In the two weeks after the
Informa equity issuance, the 50-day
stock price moving average has
narrowed 54% vs. the 20-day. This
implies an investor support base
has offset downward price pressure
from initial Covid impacts. Reed
Exhibitions recently saw its 20-day
moving average exceed the 50-day
meaning the stock has near-term
momentum to the upside.
Beyond market moves, far
more important is the market’s
endorsement of the exhibition
mission. Tradeshows generate
international professional
communities that accelerate
networking, learning and trading.
Pent-up demand in the form of
forward bookings and exhibitor
flexibility in rescheduling points to
an investable truth: the power and
value of face-to-face interaction
at scale is an essential part of the
modern global economy. It is a truth
the investors bet on even during the
depths of the Covid-19 pandemic.
While investing is by definition
the assumption of risk, history
tends to show volatile markets offer
the best opportunities. Exhibition
industry professionals have always
thought teleconferences would
never replace the rush of walking
the show floor, marvelling at the
latest stands, looking people in the
eye, and living the experience of
trade that underpins modern life.
Now they are joined with global
investors that just gave them 1.25
billion new reasons to agree.
Issue 3 2020 9