Trap Snaps Shut on MICE North America

As of the end of January, the writing was on the wall for MICE (Multi Intl. Communication Experiences) North America, as most of its divisions and offices in the U.S. and Canada all but ceased to exist.

On Jan. 10, Columbia, Md.-based private equity firm JPB Enterprises bought one of MICE's largest divisions, Irvine, Calif.-based DisplayWorks. Another division, MICE Market Craft, was also on the sales block, according to a Market Craft company spokesperson. Two other divisions were shuttered: Kadoke Displays, located in Ontario, Canada, and MICE Delta, with offices in Illinois and Florida.

Of all the company's offices in the U.S. (including its corporate headquarters in Las Vegas), only two – Dallas and Atlanta – were still open at press time.

The possibility of MICE N.A.'s demise became apparent last summer when the London Stock Exchange suspended trading of shares of its U.K.-based parent company, MICE Group, a top executive stepped down and another one of its divisions, MICE U.K., began bankruptcy procedures.

At that time, the fate of the North American division was not clear. Herb Hite, then-president of West Coast Operations and interim CEO of MICE N.A., told Tradeshow Week he didn't know what was going to happen, but added, “The best way of saying it is that they (MICE Group) are going through restructuring, and MICE N.A. could be sold through private equity, like MICE Intl. (another division), or sold off altogether.”

Fast forward six months. Today, Hite is pleased that the unit he was also president of, DisplayWorks, landed on its feet elsewhere. “DisplayWorks was sold to MICE five years ago, and we were fortunate to re-sell it,” he said. “These things don't always turn out this way.”

All 140 DisplayWorks employees were able to keep their jobs, Hite added, and because of solid relationships, clients and vendors “stayed loyal through this.”

Some employees from MICE N.A.'s other former divisions and offices have found jobs at other exhibit companies, such as 3D Exhibits. Kent Jones, 3D's senior vice president and client results strategist, said his company hired a few people from MICE N.A. when it started to fold.

“From its competitors' standpoint, it provides tremendous opportunity to be able to pick up people who have clients and relationships,” Jones said.

Initially, he added, clients might have been leery about doing business with a new company. “They might wonder, 'Is this one going to go out of business too?'” Jones said. However, account executives were able to help clients through the transition pretty quickly, he added.

Jones didn't know the details of MICE's downfall, but said he has seen a number of companies fail in the last few decades because they simply grew too fast. “They'll come and buy up other companies and use it as a growth strategy,” he said. “Our industry has really high overhead, so the profit margins aren't there to support this kind of strategy.”

Since April, when MICE Group's stock traded at a high of 25p (50 cents), it has plunged to its current (suspended) price of 6p (12 cents). The parent company is under administration (known in the United States as receivership) with international accounting firm Grant Thornton, which didn't returns calls from TSW.

MICE Group previously had 64 companies and 1,700 staff members in 40 international locations and offered services in creative and brand communications, conferences and exhibitions, sponsorship and event marketing, training and sales promotion, workplace interiors and retail design, leisure environments and museums.