Two M&A Deals Involve Event Software Management Firms
Staff -- Tradeshow Week, 8/28/2006
StarCite and OnVantage are merging to create a global meetings and events software-based management company.
StarCite produces On Demand Global Meeting Solutions, and OnVantage offers meeting management software programs for corporations and associations, as well as hotels and convention and visitor bureaus. Although primarily focused on meetings, StarCite and OnVantage are also involved in exhibitions.
Meanwhile, Toronto-based Exposoft Solutions acquired travel management firm EMP. Exposoft is a data management firm for the events industry that offers registration, data management and reporting services to meetings and tradeshows.
Venture capital firm Internet Capital Group, StarCite's major investor, will own 27 percent of the combined company and hold three of its seven board seats. The merged company, based in Philadelphia, will operate under the StarCite name. Mike Boult, StarCite CEO, will be CEO. The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter; no financial details were released.
According to ICG Managing Director Doug Alexander, the merger brings together two parallel on-demand platforms. He said StarCite and OnVantage have been separately focused on driving change in the corporate meetings and events industry, and that together they have the opportunity to accelerate market adoption by several years in a vast and largely untapped market.
Financial terms of the Exposoft-EMP deal were not disclosed either. EMP will continue to operate as its own entity within Exposoft.
