Nth Degree Targets Strategic Acquisitions with New Backing from Shamrock Capital

Shamrock Capital is Nth Degree’s new investor, replacing MSouth Equity Partners, an Atlanta-based private equity firm.

MSouth invested in the company in 2019. In those five years, Nth Degree has more than tripled the size of its business.

“We had become one of MSouth’s largest holdings. At a certain point, they can’t deploy more capital to you,” said John Hense, CEO of Nth Degree. “So you have to move on to one in the next category so you can keep buying competitors and building. When you think about private equity groups, Shamrock plays in the top-size category.”

“Joining forces with Shamrock further enables our customer-centric team to build on existing momentum to scale our operations, expand our offerings, and continue to push the boundaries of what’s possible in the event industry,” said Hense.

“Buying some of our best competitors to build additional service offerings is a key part of our strategy and we will continue down that path,” said Hense. “Our future acquisitions are going to be around service expansion and  depth of service.”

The new capital will allow Nth Degree to acquire additional companies. It is no stranger to acquisitions as it has acquired five companies since 2018 — Zenith LaborNet, Renaissance, Absolute I&D, Fern, and Upland. 

Its first acquisition with its new private equity firm Shamrock will focus on technology. Then it will focus on its overall service capability. “That will include the training of field people, additional recruiting to bring people into the industry,” said Hense.

Nth Degree will continue to operate under its current leadership team and structure, including Nth Degree Events and Fern Exposition Services, its integrated event services group.

At present, Nth Degree’s core internal team includes 600 people. An additional 600 to 1,500 fluctuates on show floors every day.