Parent of GES, E/G Completes Spin-off
Staff -- Tradeshow Week, 7/12/2004
Viad, the Phoenix-based parent of GES Exposition Services and Exhibitgroup/Gilt-spur, completed its spin-off of the MoneyGram unit on July 1.
The move, in the works for nearly a year, makes GES and E/G Viad's primary businesses. Spinning off Viad's payment-services division is expected to enable the company to more closely focus on its convention and exhibit services business.
MoneyGram Intl., meanwhile, began trading as a separate company under the "MGI" ticker symbol. The company includes Travelers Express, whose history dates back to 1940, when it was a small Minneapolis money order company.
At the same time, Viad implemented a 1-for-4 reverse stock split, meaning that each four shares of stock were converted to one share.
Now that the spin-off is finished, service contractor GES and exhibit-design house E/G are expected to do more cross-selling and offering of integrated services for corporate events.
Together, the companies finished 2003 with $717.3 million in revenue, down 8.8 percent from 2002 revenue of $786.2 million. Due to restructuring efforts, the businesses still managed to generate $44.9 million in operating income, up 19.3 percent from the previous year's $37.6 million. For the entire year of 2004, however, revenue and profits are forecast to rise.
Once a highly diversified company, Viad has had more than 2,400 subsidiaries during its 70-year history. Besides GES and E/G, the company now includes two transportation companies, Brewster Transport and Glacier Park.
