TBA Global Acquires PGI
By Margo McCall -- Tradeshow Week, 8/8/2005
Just months after it closed offices, realigned management and shed staff in a sweeping reorganization, event producer PGI has agreed to be acquired by a Los Angeles competitor.
The privately held TBA Global Events said buying the assets of the Washington, D.C.-based PGI will enable it to expand into Canada and Europe. With PGI aboard, the combined company will generate $175 million in annual revenue.
"We inherit a tremendous number of great people, and we inherit a great customer base," said Jeff Kline, TBA's executive vice president of business affairs. "It also really allows us to expand from a product offering standpoint."
TBA had been eyeing its competitor as a possible acquisition target for the past year, and had been in negotiations for the past six months. "It's a company that we've watched," he said.
Established in 1990 to produce events for corporations and associations, PGI eventually tried to reinvent itself as a full-service agency. The company had earlier called itself PGI, The Unique Event and Communications Agency.
PGI's 15-person tradeshow unit produces Destinations Showcase events in Chicago and Washington, D.C. Its corporate clients include Aventis, Exxon Mobil, Ford, IBM and Nestle.
Even with the merger, Destination Marketing Assn. Intl. (the new name for the Intl. Assn. of Convention & Visitor Bureaus) still plans to sponsor the PGI-owned Destinations Showcase in Washington, D.C., next February, and in Chicago next summer.
Kline said the combined company's offices, staff and services are still being evaluated. But he stressed that the staff are an important asset. "We're really excited about some of the people they have on board," he said.
Last December, PGI closed eight of its 26 offices worldwide and laid off 50 of its 350 employees as part of a plan to embrace event management and move away from destination management. The reorganization came in the wake of a failed merger attempt with another company and a year after PGI management established two brand focuses: The Strategic Events Agency and Destinator by PGI.
As part of the restructuring, Bob McCormick was hired as president and COO. David Kahn, head of PGI's Detroit office and automotive group, was promoted to executive vice president of sales.
Kline said TBA plans to resurrect PGI's destination marketing service, which provides everything from hotel negotiations and transportation to room and conference reservations.
In addition, he said his firm is sensitive to the turmoil PGI staff members have already been through. "They have endured a tremendous amount of change, and through that change, they have maintained a dynamic business. We look forward to integrating that and building something from both the businesses," he said.
PGI officials declined to comment on the company's purchase, referring queries to TBA.
TBA Global Events is owned by Irving Azoff, chairman of Azoff Music Management; former entertainment executive Robert Geddes; and JHW Greentree Capital, an affiliate of Whitney & Co. Kline said its owners' backgrounds have enabled the company to add some entertainment-industry flair to the events it produces.
The firm, founded in 1984, has offices in Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, Salt Lake City and San Diego, as well as Omaha, Neb.; and Nashville, Tenn.
The company for the past five years has produced the Sapphire Customer and Partner Conference, which draws 10,000 customers, partners and staff of the business software provider SAP. TBA also produced the Motothunder World Tour, a series of events intended to acquaint Motorola employees with the company's new branding message; and Herbalife's 25th anniversary celebration for 35,000 distributors at Atlanta's Georgia Dome.
