Advanstar Trumps All Deals
By Rachel Wimberly -- Tradeshow Week, 4/30/2007
Last year was a watershed moment for the U.S. face-to-face market. For the first time ever, that market's revenue passed that of print, according to a new report from American Business Media.
The report found that tradeshows accounted for 36 percent ($11.3 billion) of overall business-to-business revenue of $31.1 billion, compared with 35 percent ($10.9 billion) for print and 14 percent ($4.3 billion) for e-media. The remaining 15 percent consisted of database lists and B-to-B marketing.
Meanwhile, the first quarter of this year saw 17 mergers and acquisitions in the exhibitions and conferences sector, as tracked by Jordan Edmiston Group Inc. The number represented a 21-percent increase over the same period last year. Then, April marked the biggest deal so far with the $1.4 billion acquisition of Advanstar Communications by a private-equity group led by Veronis Suhler Stevenson.
Richard Mead, managing director of JEGI, said, "Advanstar was due to happen, and the good news now for Advanstar, and the industry as a whole, is, now that they have a new owner, there's new capital and growth is possible through acquisitions."
Besides Advanstar, April saw some other significant deals, such as Freeman buying face-to-face marketing firm ProActive and Reed Exhibitions buying 26 shows from the largest tradeshow company in Brazil, Alcantara Machado.
Other noteworthy deals so far in 2007 have been the purchase of U.K.-based Melville Exhibition and Event Services by GES Exposition Services, the sale of Convention Management Group to Naylor, and 1105 Media continuing its buying spree by snatching up the Florida Educational Technology Conference.
Dmg world media shed one of its home shows, Tulsa House Beautiful Show, to Dolan Media; Canon Communications scooped up another plastics show, Plastic USA — North America's Marketplace; and Affinity Group, through its AGI Events division, bought five RV and sportsman shows from Industrial Expositions and the Madison Boat Show from MAC Events.
There was a record number of first-quarter deals, although their value fell 45 percent compared with the same quarter last year. According to JEGI, the drop was primarily due to a large number of smaller deals (worth less than $10 million each) that closed during the first quarter. Of course, factoring in the next quarter, with the massive Advanstar deal, the numbers look much brighter.
Overall, the industry has continued to grow at a rapid pace, and there are no signs of a slowdown any time soon.
"The industry continues to be very strong," said Kathleen Thomas, managing director of Berkery Noyes. "I haven't seen a hiccup. Publishers continue to look for ways to diversify their revenue streams."
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