Deal Making Heats up in the Events Industry

There is an increase in deal making in the business events space.

Among the recent deals is Informa buying Ascential, the owner of Cannes Lions, a festival for global marketing and advertising, and Money20/20, a financial services event, for a reported $1.55 billion in cash. 

Hyve Group is buying Beyond Ordinary Events, the organizing body behind Possible, a three-day conference focused on marketing, tech, media, and culture.

And Easyfairs, a Brussels-based international events company, has secured investment from two private equity firms, Cobepa and Inflexion. 

“There is a lot of new money coming into the sector and that recognizes the continued confidence and trust in the tradeshow and events world,” said Vincent Polito, CEO of the Society of Independent Show Organizers (SISO), an organization geared for for-profit trade shows, consumer shows, expositions, conferences, and events. “The fact that you see very established brands moving is an indication of a positive restlessness that means you should expect to see more deals not fewer. As brands get integrated, it also usually results in talent moving around, which can often spark further innovation.”

Strategic Deal

Informa shared some of its plans for Ascential’s brands. The company is looking at making Lions the centerpiece of a new Informa Festivals business. It includes the Monaco Yacht Show, London Tech Week, and Black Hat. It also plans to expand Money20/20 into the Middle East and Africa, likely through Tahaluf, its joint venture partnership with the Saudi Arabian Federation for Cyber Security and Programming.

Fitch Ratings, a credit rating agency, noted Informa’s history with acquisitions. “Informa’s track record of integrating business will likely mitigate execution risk. It has already completed several strategic acquisitions as part of its capital reinvestment strategy and has demonstrated a solid integration track record with successful incorporations of Winsight, Tarsus, and HIMSS during 2023,” said Fitch.

In another deal, Informa has entered into a $10 million partnership with Microsoft to enhance its AI capabilities. The deal will grant Microsoft access to Informa’s data, aiming to bolster its AI systems.

Hyve Groups Buys Beyond Ordinary Events

MMA, an industry marketing association, will continue to be a strategic partner to Possible. The second edition of Possible took place in Miami in mid-April. It attracted 3,600 attendees, 1,000 more than in the first year.

Hyve plans to expand the conference internationally and add meeting elements like the one-on-one appointments it arranged during its Shoptalk event in Las Vegas. There were more than 75,000 meetings over three days.  

Next year, the Possible conference will be held at the Fontainebleau in South Beach April 28-30. 

“I believe Hyve’s acquisition wasn’t to play a pat hand with Possible but to enhance and extend the brand,” said Polito. “I don’t see this as a trend toward consolidation, but more appropriately a trend toward expansion.”

Easyfairs Gets Major Investment

Another industry deal involves Easyfairs, a Brussels-based international events company. It secured investment from two private equity firms, Cobepa and Inflexion. In addition, Easyfairs founder Eric Everard will reinvest in the company as part of a three-way partnership.  

“More than 25 years of own investment has grown Easyfairs from a small Belgian start-up to a place in the global top ten in our sector. Now is the time to write the next chapter in our history with this exciting three-way partnership,” said Everard.

Easyfairs organizes 110 exhibitions in 112 industry verticals. They include packaging and logistics, manufacturing, industrial processing, hospitality, and construction. The company also manages eight venues in Belgium, the Netherlands, and Sweden.

“Easyfairs is one of several European organizers beginning to recognize the importance of the North American market and beginning to build infrastructure here,” said Polito. “This recent EasyFairs deal will allow them to build via launches and geo clones.”