Canon Purchases Eight Reed Shows

Canon Communications has increased its strength and geographic reach in the manufacturing sector through the acquisition of eight Reed Exhibitions shows and one supporting magazine.

The purchase, for an undisclosed price, adds three more Tradeshow Week 200 shows to Canon's portfolio, including Assembly Technology Expo, Natl. Manufacturing Week and the biennial Intl. Powder & Bulk Solids Conference/Exhibition. Canon's medical manufacturing shows on the East and West coasts also rank on the TSW 200.

"The people at Canon had been aware of these shows for quite a while," said Charles McCurdy, chairman and CEO of the Los Angeles-based Canon. "At the same time, they'd been looking for a strategy to fill in their increasingly strong position on the West Coast in Anaheim and on the East Coast at the Javits in New York. It was immediately seen as an opportunity."

Reed put the eight shows on the block late last year, saying it wanted to focus more on the home enhancement, security, lifestyle and life science sectors. Reed is also trying to sell its Canadian industrial shows, which McCurdy said didn't interest Canon.

Along with the Reed shows, sister company Reed Business Information (publisher of Tradeshow Week) put 23 of its magazines up for sale. McCurdy said the volume of titles would have dwarfed Canon's magazine portfolio. In addition, some of the magazines had been experiencing share declines.

Canon will be taking over operation of the shows. Because Reed centralizes registration, management and other operations, only the sales staff assigned to the acquired shows will be picked up.

In addition, the deal won't close until mid-June to allow four of the shows to be held under current management.

"It's an exciting move for Canon," said McCurdy. "As an event operator, Canon has had a very attractive position in a variety of aspects of specialty manufacturing. With the addition of the Reed products, it really rounds us out so we are the leading provider for the technology manufacturing sector in the U.S."

The acquisitions are intended to build on Canon's strength in the manufacturing arena, as well as expand its geographic reach. Assembly Technology Expo, Natl. Manufacturing Week, Intl. Powder & Bulk Solids and Quality Expo are all held in Rosemont. NEPCON East and Assembly East are held in Boston; Quality Expo Detroit in Detroit; Advanced Manufacturing Exposition in Greenville, S.C.; and Powder & Bulk Solids Southeast in Atlanta.

The 2005 Assembly Technology Expo ranked No. 192 on the TSW 200, drawing nearly 9,000 people to a 141,700 net square foot floor with 569 exhibitors. That was up slightly from the previous year.

Natl. Manufacturing Week's 2005 show — which attracted more than 15,000 attendees to a 205,140 net sq. ft. floor with 1,028 exhibitors — placed No. 133 on the TSW 200. In comparison, the 2004 show attracted nearly 19,000 attendees to a 229,328 net sq. ft. showfloor with 1,055 exhibitors, ranking No. 101 on the TSW 200.

The biennial Intl. Powder & Bulk Solids Conference/Exhibition's 2004 show landed it a No. 190 ranking on the TSW 200 with a 135,325 net sq. ft. floor with 484 exhibitors. That was down from the 2002 show, which featured a 140,696 net sq. ft. floor with 517 exhibitors. Powder/Bulk Solids Magazine is a sponsor of the Intl. Powder & Bulk Solids events.

This is Canon's second acquisition since it was purchased by Apprise Media, which McCurdy also heads. In March, it acquired Octo Media, producer of the Medical Device Technology Exhibition & Conference and Medical Device Technology magazine.

In addition to the eight new shows and one new magazine, Canon produces several Web sites, 20 magazines and 20 tradeshows.

Canon's largest shows are the collocated Medical Design & Manufacturing (MD&M) West, WestPack, PLASTEC West, Pacific Design & Manufacturing, and Electronics West, which collectively ranked No. 60 on the most recent TSW 200, drawing nearly 38,000 attendees and 1,944 exhibitors to a 326,772 net sq. ft. showfloor at the Anaheim Convention Center in 2005.

Canon's second-largest event, the collocated Medical Design & Manufacturing (MD&M) East, Atlantic Design & Manufacturing, EastPack, and PLASTEC East, ranked 104th on the TSW 200, with nearly 26,000 attendees and a 242,239 net sq. ft. showfloor with 1,381 exhibitors.