Jan. – March (16 deals) Tradeshow M&A Activity

Jan. 3: U.K.-based United Business Media purchases Mass Events Labs from founders David Berlind and Doug Gold for $1.25 million. Mass Events will be a part of CMP Technology, a unit of UBM, and Berlind will join CMP. Massachusetts-based Mass Events Labs is the producer of custom events based on the Open Space methodology in which each event's agenda is determined by the participants day-by-day, rather than by the event's organizers in advance.

Jan. 4: Viad, GES Exposition Services' parent company, acquires The Becker Group, an experiential marketing company for $24.3 million. Baltimore-based Becker specializes in attractions and brand-based experiences for clients and venues, including retail centers, studios, museums, consumer brands and casinos.

Jan. 21: Reed Exhibitions acquires the Moscow-based InterCharm shows, formerly owned by Russian organizer Staraya Krepost. The InterCharm events are the leading beauty exhibitions in Russia and Eastern Europe. In its 15th year, InterCharm will be held Oct. 23-26 at the Crocus Expo in Moscow. The 2007 event attracted 876 exhibitors from 29 countries displaying products and services across the beauty sector. Another show in the portfolio, InterCharm Professional, held at the Crocus Expo April 17-19, focuses on the professional side of the beauty industry, including equipment for salons, hairdressers and spas.

Jan. 21: In another Russian deal, Reed Exhibitions scoops us PAP-FOR, an exhibition for the paper industry, from E.J. Krause & Associates. A biennial event, PAP-FOR will be held Nov. 10-13 at the Lenexpo in St. Petersburg, Russia. E.J. Krause established the event in 1992. PAP-FOR, which typically attracts 12,000 attendees and more than 300 exhibiting firms, will be owned and operated internationally by Vienna-based Reed CEE and run locally by Reed Elsevier.

Jan. 22: Questex Media Group buys FierceMarkets, an online business-to-business media company based in Washington, D.C. FierceMarkets connects business marketers and decision-makers through its portfolio of e-newsletters, Web sites, webinars and live events in the telecom, life sciences, health care, IT and finance industries. Some of the company's 19 online publications include FierceWireless, FierceBiotech and FierceFinance.

Jan. 23: CMP, a unit of U.K.-based United Business Media, acquires Colorado-based Think Services, which includes HDI (formerly Help Desk Institute) and the world's largest membership association for IT help desk and service management professionals. The acquisition includes the HDI Annual Conference & Expo, which attracts more than 2,000 IT support professionals. Peggy Libbey, president and COO of Think Services, will continue to manage operations for HDI.

Jan. 29: Private equity firm Investcorp buys Randall-Reilly Publishing, a provider of media and information to the U.S. trucking and construction market, in conjunction with Randall-Reilly President and CEO Mike Reilly and other members of Wachovia Capital Partners management. Randall-Reilly's portfolio includes The Great American Trucking Show, April 21-23 at the Dallas Convention Center, and The Great West Truck Show, June 26-28 at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

Feb. 1: The Tennessee Wildlife Federation acquires the Mid-South Hunting and Fishing Extravaganza and the Tennessee Wildlife Extravaganza from Expo South. With the acquisition, Tennessee Wildlife officials said it plans to make the shows relevant, not only to sportsmen, but also to outdoor enthusiasts and their families. The Mid-South event also will serve as the venue for the federation's annual meeting.

Feb. 6: Canon Communications buys the Paris-based Pharmapack tradeshow from French organizer Oriex (Organization of Intl. Congresses and Exhibitions). Pharmapack, converted from a semiannual to an annual event last year, focuses on the pharmaceutical packaging industry. Established in 1997, Pharmapack has an executive-level conference that addresses a wide range of technologies and regulatory issues along with a showfloor with 130 exhibitors.

Feb. 8: United Business Media acquires Exposure Events U.K. from its founders for €800,000 ($1.27 million), with a further performance-related consideration of up to €2.5 million ($4 million) payable over the next two years. Exposure Events serves the U.K. secondary schools' rebuilding and renewal market. The company's event, the Building Schools Exhibition and Conference, was launched in Harrogate in 2006 and attracts more than 100 exhibitors and 500 attendees.

Feb. 21: United Business Media buys another events company, Vision Events, from Gartner for $11.4 million to be integrated into the CMP Technology's Channel business. Vision Events is a provider of specialized U.S. and international IT events, including 16 annual conferences. The events are by invitation only and include attendees who are decision-makers in the Channel and end-user audiences in vertical markets such as government, manufacturing and financial services. A transition team has been formed that is made up of senior Gartner and CMP managers.

Feb. 21: Private equity firm Veronis Suhler Stevenson acquires U.K.-based Clarion Events, an independent organizer with exhibitions, events and conferences, from Hg Capital. Clarion has consumer show brands in six sectors, including gaming, retail, arts and antiques, motor homes, financial services and entertainment. The acquisition includes 65 events and conferences such as ICE and ATEi for the international gaming industry, Top Drawer for the high-end giftware industry, Mortgage Business Expo and Adviser for the financial services industry, and The Baby Show.

Feb. 25: Arlington Capital Partners, a Washington, D.C.-based private equity firm, purchases Virgo Holdings, in partnership with the company's existing management team. Phoenix-based Virgo is an integrated B-to-B information services company that includes tradeshows and conferences, print and electronic media, education and training, and business services. In the natural products sector, Virgo produces SupplySide, a tradeshow for ingredients to the natural products industry.

March 3: World Business Research acquires eComXpo, a virtual tradeshow and job fair for e-commerce marketers. WBR produces eTail, for multichannel retailers, and physical events worldwide. WBR plans to launch a virtual version of eTail collocated with the existing virtual eComXpo that will take place July 9-10. EComXpo recently attracted more than 150 exhibitors and 8,000 attendees to its October online event.

March 3: Tarsus Group purchases 50 percent of the share capital of Hubei Hope Exhibition Co. for £1.4 million ($2.77 million). Hope is wholly owned by Hubei OIN-Hope Exhibition Service, which itself is wholly owned by the management of Hope. Founded in 2000, Hope organizes exhibitions in Central and Western China. The company organizes a portfolio of 27 exhibitions in three sectors: medical equipment, industrial equipment and leisure.

March 6: U.K.-based Mack Brooks Exhibitions buys the Intl. Converting Exhibition series, which takes place every two years in Munich, Germany; Shanghai, China; and Manchester, U.K. ICE will take place Nov. 24-26 at the Munich M,O,C.