Montgomery, Milan in International Deals
Staff -- Tradeshow Week, 3/12/2007
Two overseas partnership deals have resulted in one acquisition that will lead to a new show and the creation of a new exhibition firm.
After five years of cooperation and three annual joint-venture exhibitions, U.K.-based Montgomery Intl. and Indian firm Inter Ads formed Inter Ads Montgomery India. The two made their previous arrangement permanent Feb. 1.
P.K. Rajeevan will move from Inter Ads to be CEO of the new company, and Montgomery's senior management team will spend more time in India to assist in the initial stages. Inter Ads Montgomery India aims to launch new events and work with global brands to develop their presence in India. The first show that Inter Ads Montgomery India's New Delhi office will produce is an animal husbandry event, VIV, for Nielsen (formerly VNU Exhibitions Group Europe).
Elsewhere, Milan motorcycle tradeshow EICMA bought 50 percent of the Bike Asia firm, which had planned to launch a motorcycle show in Singapore in the spring of 2008. Instead, EICMA, which is entirely owned by Confindustria Ancma, will launch the Singapore show that Bike Asia had projected would span 110,000 net square feet of exhibit space.
According to Guidalberto Guidi, president of Confindustria ANCMA, the Italian national bicycle and motorcycle accessories manufacturers' trade association, there is no tradeshow in Asia that compares to the large European trade events for motorcycles and bicycles. He said Singapore — a city halfway between India and China, in the heart of Southeast Asia, with a modern exhibition facility — was an ideal location for one.
