Home Shows Under New Roof

A little more than 10 months after announcing its portfolio of 38 North American consumer home shows was on the sales block, dmg world media closed a deal July 25, selling them off for $53 million to a new company, Marketplace Events.

The nascent company was formed by Stephens Capital Partners, an affiliate of Stephens Inc., a privately held investment bank in Little Rock, Ark. All dmg world media employees who worked on the shows were transferred to the new company.

“We're really excited,” said Tom Baugh, CEO of Marketplace Events. “This is an industry that, despite the worst housing market in a couple generations, our business is still growing.”

Baugh formerly was dmg's vice president of the North American home show division.

“We're really happy for them and happy that we managed to keep the whole business together,” said Mike Cooke, dmg world media's CEO.

Though it could be expected, he added, the current state of the economy neither affected the time it took to complete the sale nor the price dmg sold the portfolio for.

“We had a huge response when we announced the sale,” Cooke said. “We went through an auction process, which, in the end, we had to take through three different rounds.”

Baugh said he gives dmg a lot of credit for keeping the business together.

“The sale of all the shows to one firm is a strong indication that consumer shows are important for both businesses and attendees,” said Kristie Gonsalves, president of the Natl. Assn. of Consumer Shows.

With the sale of the home shows, Cooke said dmg will spend time completing the transition – much like it did after acquiring the remainder of George Little Management last fall – before making any new acquisitions.

However, Baugh said Marketplace Events is looking to launch and acquire shows that fit into its portfolio, though that doesn't necessarily mean they will be home shows.

“We're going to let the market dictate those opportunities and (the) timing,” he added. “We don't have the pressure of getting everything done right away.”

Baugh said the home shows also have changes ahead.

After the announcement that the shows were for sale last fall, “it wasn't a time where we could make a lot of changes, even if we wanted to,” he added. The shows, starting in 2009, will have updated looks and branding.

And, of course, there's the three-year deal signed by Ty Pennington, the host of “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition,” to be the spokesman for the Marketplace Events shows.

Baugh said Pennington will make appearances at the shows, depending on his TV show's production demands. “He really believes in the value of home shows to deliver new ideas,” Baugh added.

And Baugh would know. In 2001, he owned the Akron Home & Flower Show in Akron, Ohio, and Lisa Kropf, now senior vice president of sales and marketing for Marketplace Events, booked Pennington for the show – his first paid public appearance.

Marketplace Events also announced that its senior management team will include Mark White, former vice president of finance for dmg, now CFO; Kropf, former director of marketing and sponsorship; and two others. Dmg staff from outside the home show sector also joined the new company.

The management team has ownership in Marketplace Events, which Stephens Capital Partners offered after dmg decided to sell the shows to it, Baugh said.

In addition, Marketplace Events started a new business-to-business division, Marketplace Event Consultants, he added, which will provide custom consulting to exhibitors and consumer show producers who operate in noncompetitive markets.