Hyve Group, one of the world’s biggest exhibition organisers, has added two major US events to its portfolio in a deal worth $145m (£111m). The acquisition of Shoptalk and Grocerystop is the first since the London-listed company changed its name from ITE.
The two US exhibitions, both located in Las Vegas, were created by Anil Aggarwal and Simran Rekhi Aggarwal, the founders of Money2020, who will continue to run the businesses for the next 12 months before handing over.
Hyve said the purchase will allow it to expand its American business and build its global brands division as it focuses on market-leading events. It organises more than 120 trade exhibitions and conferences a year in 14 countries.
Mark Shashoua, chief executive of Hyve, said “This acquisition delivers on our vision to create the world’s leading portfolio of content-driven, must-attend events that provide an outstanding experience and return on investment for our customers.”
The Shoptalk show, which launched in May 2016, focuses on the $4 trillion US retail sector while Groceryshop, established last year, focuses on the $1 trillion US food and grocery segment.
The events, which have key customers including Amazon, Google, Facebook and Microsoft, are expected to generate revenue of $35.8m and profits on the ebitda measure of $12.2m this year.
Anil Aggarwal said: “Hyve is the only new home we considered for these events because it shares a common culture and approach to investing and developing products that consistently exceed customer expectations. Hyve’s global portfolio of market-leading events will provide the best platform for growth for our events in the long term.”
Hyve will retain all Shoptalk and Groceryshop staff.
Earlier this month, Hyve posted a 7pc increase in annual revenue to £286m and pre-tax profit of £8.7m, up from a loss of £3.7m last year.
Shares fell 0.4pc valuing the company at £671m.
Revenue at its top 10 events, which include the Spring and Autumn Fair exhibitions in the UK, rose 13pc in the third consecutive year of double-digit growth.