The Expo Group Sells Majority Stake to Private Equity Firm

The Expo Group is the latest event services company to get a private equity deal. It has sold a majority stake to New State Capital Partners. 

Terms were not disclosed. “Investment was made in partnership with management and the existing owners of the Company, who reinvested substantial proceeds,” according to a statement from New State Capital.  

Some other recent deals:

CloserStill Media acquired a majority stake in Partnership Network Events, a producer of hosted-buyer events and conferences in the UK, U.S., and Middle East.

Phoenix Equity Partners invested a reported $297 million in Nineteen Group. This is Phoenix Equity Partners’ second round of funding.

Providence Equity Partners bought UK-based event organizer Hyve in June. 

Shamrock Capital replaced MSouth Equity Partners as Nth Degree’s new investor. MSouth invested in the company in 2019. In those five years, Nth Degree more than tripled the size of its business.

A Top Five Trade Show Contractor

According to Trade Show Executive research, The Expo Group is one of the top five service contractors in the industry. 

Ray Pekowski founded the company in 1991. It has approximately 200 employees and is headquartered near Dallas. It helps with booth rentals, logistics, and execution services for over 500 trade shows and live events annually.

New State partnered on the transaction with Dallas-based Panos Partners, founded by former events industry executive Bryan Scott. This marks the fourth investment in which New State has partnered with an independent sponsor.

“We plan to drive continued organic growth as well as accelerate The Expo Group’s trajectory via strategic M&A,” says Kurt Lentz, senior principal at New State.

He notes that New State’s resources will enhance The Expo Group’s operations. In addition, it will “further scale our business.”

In May, The Expo Group hired Darren Temple to serve as chief growth officer. Previously, Temple was CEO and president of Switch, a live event company. He was also COO for Meeting Professionals International (MPI), and EVP of global sales for Freeman for nearly 20 years.