Reed Exhibitions acquires Legend Exhibitions

Reed ExpoReed Exhibitions, part of RELX Group, is delighted to announce that it has acquired Legend Exhibitions, the organisation behind two of Europe’s leading retail technology and retail design events.

Legend Exhibitions’ portfolio includes RBTE (Retail Business Technology Expo), Retail Design Expo, Retail Digital Signage Expo as well as three online content platforms (Essential Retail, Retail Design World and Essential Ecommerce). The company also runs summits and forums for the retail sector that address the dynamic developments taking place in-store, online and in the multichannel environment.

Launched in 2011 and taking place in March in London, UK, RBTE is one of the leading retail solutions events attracting over 12,000 visitors annually, mainly retailers as well as hospitality, travel and leisure operators. Successfully launched in 2015, the co-located Retail Design Expo attracts designers, architects, brand owners as well as retailers. Retail Digital Signage Expo will be launched in March 2016.

Legend Exhibitions is well placed to benefit from the dynamic UK retail market, valued at £433bn in 2014. From a global perspective, the UK has the highest proportion of online sales, at 24% of its total retail sales. The UK online retail market is forecast to grow 12% this year.

Richard Mortimore, Chief Executive Officer, Reed Exhibitions UK said: “The acquisition of Legend Exhibitions is an exciting opportunity to move into the retail technology and retail design industry.

“Retail is undergoing an unprecedented level of change principally due to ecommerce and the smart phone, resulting in exceptional innovation and new product development. This is the perfect business environment for Reed Exhibitions to become the leading provider of events that serve this sector.”

John Bednall, CEO, Legend Exhibitions commented: “Legend Exhibitions is growing fast in serving this huge and exciting sector. As part of Reed Exhibitions we will be able to grow our exhibitions, summits and online magazines even faster both here in the UK and abroad.”