It seems like everyone wants to buy an event business these days. Well, maybe not everyone, but for sure all the cool kids are doing it.

From the smart-money PE firms looking to get in on a growing sector, to the savvy CEOs using acquisitions to drive growth, to the posers who want to punch above their weight but have neither the money nor the know-how to pull off a deal, let alone a successful integration, the M&A activity index seems off the charts.

In today’s article, I dive into the numbers, what’s driving them, what buyers are looking for, and how they’re mitigating risk.

In this issue:

• Event M&A By the Numbers: A Banner Year

• Tailwinds Are Bringing New Competitors to the Event Space

• Uncertainty = A Premium for Quality Companies

• How Buyers Manage Uncertainty: Longer Deal Times & More Earnouts

• The Hot Topic At SITE’s C-Suite Agency Summit

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Acquisition and Business Updates

• Events Venture Group announced a $750k investment in Stablecon, a new event franchise focused on the stablecoin segment of the crypto industry. Their inaugural U.S. event this year drew over 2,000 people, and they’re already launching an EMEA version next May. The pitch by founder Nik Milanovic was excellent, and the round closed in a matter of days. I try to avoid investing in things I don’t understand well, and since I couldn’t tell you the difference between a stablecoin and a stable (other than one has horses in it), I passed on this. But some very smart industry entrepreneurs think this business will be a hit, and something tells me they’re right.

• In a previous post I made the case that the creator economy will fuel new event businesses, and Stablecon is a perfect example. Prior to starting it, Nik built This Week In Fintech to over 10k subscribers, giving him the audience and insight to see the demand for this new venture.

• In a deal that has enormous disruptive potential, Events.com acquired (or merged with, depending on your source) Summit, the influential invite-only events platform known for curating gatherings of innovators, creators, influencers and other thought leaders. Jody Levy, former owner and CEO, calls Summit “a little bit to TED, a little bit to Milken, a little bit to Davos, and a little bit to Burning Man.” This is an interesting marriage between a ticketing platform and a curated suite of events, and reminds me of when Netflix first started dropping truckloads of cash to create their own content.

• Questex acquired Versalinx Global Events and The Conference Forum, deepening their strength in the life sciences space, and is yet another example of the thriving M&A trade show space, which I delve into below.

• My last article, Event Industry Awards: The Good, the Bad, and the Shameless, sparked quite the conversation online. Kai Hattendorf, former CEO of UFI: The Global Association of the Exhibitions Industry, has launched a survey to find out which awards actually matter. I’ll be sure to share the results when they’re in.

Upcoming Events

• Save the Date: Following the success of several recent C-Suite Agency dinners and forums, Chetan Shah of Micebook and I will be launching an Event Agency Executive Summit in NYC next May 12. Stay tuned for details.

• On December 2nd the Events Venture Group is hosting an Event Builders’ Bootcamp in Washington, D.C. Tickets are $250. The full day program, co-hosted by Freeman, includes workshop sessions led by former Questex CEO Kerry Gumas, Clarion Chairman & CEO Greg Topalian, Marco Giberti of Vesuvio Ventures, and other successful entrepreneurs.

• Dec 2-4 I’ll be speaking on The State of M&A at ACCESS, the annual conference of EDPA (Experiential Designers & Producers Association), an organization comprised of companies that support the exhibition, experiential and event industry.

• The Engage! Luxury Wedding Business Summit will take place Dec 8-11 at the Ritz Carlton Bacara in Santa Barbara, where I’ll be leading their first ever M&A session.

Q4 M&A Update

The State of M&A Is . . .

When presidents begin their annual State of the Union speech to Congress, they often open with the phrase “The state of our union is strong.” Even in the wake of 9/11, when the country felt shaken and unmoored, President Bush delivered those words. Sometimes it’s an accurate statement; other times it’s an effort to project strength under challenging circumstances.

Well folks, despite some truly wacky shit having gone down over the past 10 months, I am happy to report that the state of mergers and acquisitions in the events industry is, indeed, quite strong.

The market seems to have accepted the fact that uncertainty is now baked into our cake for the foreseeable future, or at least through 2028, when we may or may not have a new president. Whereas in the spring there was a bit of deer-in-the-headlights reaction to all the chaos, the event industry has now adopted Heraclitus’s famous phrase - ‘the only constant is change’ - as its anthem.

As proof, I bring you both quantitative (where available) and qualitative data, the latter comprised of dozens of conversations with private equity and other financial investors, and owners and executives at event businesses looking to make acquisitions. The tide is clearly coming in.

By the Numbers: A Banner Year for Event M&A

There isn’t good data on M&A for all sectors of the events industry. One area that does is companies that own and operate their own events, and the numbers here are striking.

Trade Show Executive opened their M&A report in this month’s issue with the headline “M&A Activity Remains Hot Despite Overall Uncertainty.” Managing Editor Maddy Ryley notes that “The slight lull in M&A activity the industry saw in the first couple of months of 2025 in the U.S, has proven to be just a blip, as deals ramp up in the second half of the year – even as feelings of uncertainty continue to loom.”

Nick Curci of Corporate Solutions reports a significant increase from last year in M&A for trade shows, conferences and trade publications for both the 3^rd quarter and year-to-date, putting 2025 on track to be the best year for acquisitions since 2019.

Tailwinds Are Bringing New Competitors

What’s driving the M&A surge is that investors (both private equity and other financial buyers, and strategics) are very bullish on the value and opportunity in face-to-face events. There’s wide consensus on the numerous Tailwinds powering in-person events forward, and in many sectors of our industry the landscape is still quite fragmented, presenting consolidation opportunities.

The shifting economics of media businesses are one example. Case in point: The Wall Street Journal’s recent piece on Condé Nast’s Strategy for Media’s New Normal: Glam Events and Paywalls, where CEO Roger Lynch talks about the company’s shifting its business model away from traditional print and web advertising in the wake of traffic declines compounded by AI’s erosion of search referrals.

To illustrate this point, digital traffic for Vogue was down 5% in September from a year ago, while Vanity Fair and Glamour fell 40%. In contrast, Vogue World, an experiential event in New York, London and Paris, generated $30 million, a whopping 50% increase from last year.

On the agency side, many companies are pivoting into the experiential space. In some cases, they’re even willing to risk losing some business from other agencies who are existing clients, which in and of itself tells you something about the opportunity.

• CAA, the powerhouse Hollywood talent agency, is reportedly on a hiring spree for their CAA Brand Consulting division, which now competes as an event marketing agency.

• In preparation for my M&A session at EDPA next month, I spoke with Exhibitus CEO Brad Falberg a few days ago, and he shared that they’re leveraging their traditional strength in fabrication work to expand heavily into experiential strategy and design.

• Last week I caught up with Janet Traphagen, the CEO of Creative Group, one of the largest meetings and incentive firms, and they too are pivoting hard toward experiential strategy & design.

• GES’s launching of Spiro, their own experiential agency, in 2022, and Freeman’s acquisition of Sparks in 2023, are evidence that the show contractor behemoths are attracted to the faster-growing agency business. By contrast, general contracting firms typically grow only 2-4% a year.

In short, a significant amount of smart money and savvy strategic focus is flooding into the events space, from a number of places and for a variety of reasons. Whether it’s brands looking at proprietary events as a growth vehicles to mitigate disruptions to their core businesses, private equity firms seeking financial returns, or existing players relying on M&A to scale, there’s an awful lot of momentum at our backs right now.

The Hot Topic at SITE’s C-Suite Agency Summit

Last month SITE gathered a couple dozen leaders of incentive firms for a half-day C-Suite Summit, held during IMEX, where I led a session on M&A trends in our industry. Participants included C-suite executives from: BCD Meetings & Events, BI Worldwide, Bishop-McCann, Brightspot Incentives & Events, Creative Group, CWT, Etherio, Go Gather, Maritz, Meetings & Incentives Worldwide, MGME, Opus Group, Prestige Global Meetings Source, Unbridled, Your Event Solutions / Altour, and Wynford.

What struck me most about this event was how many companies were either pursuing M&A as a growth strategy and/or have already completed acquisitions. It’s on just about everyone’s radar.

In addition to covering M&A trends, my session also included fireside chats with 3 CEOs whose companies have recently completed acquisitions, sharing specific insights on integrating acquired firms, determining brand positioning, and deal structures.

On a side note, the level of financial sophistication and general business savvy among these agency leaders is light years beyond what it was 20, or even 10 years ago. For those of us who’ve been in the industry for a while, this transformation has been incredible to witness.

Uncertainty = A Premium for Quality Companies

Curci’s sentiment above about the demand for quality businesses is echoed by just about everyone I speak to these days, and it extends into almost all facets of the industry. Well-run companies* are highly sought after right now, and when one comes on the market it gets traction from buyers, and quickly.

[*What constitutes a quality company varies from buyer to buyer, but generally includes: consistent revenue and profit growth, solid net margin, experienced leadership team, relatively predictable revenue (to the extent possible in our business, e.g. high repeat client percentage), strong brand and culture, clean financials, etc.]

The reason for such a pronounced focus on quality companies is the ongoing economic, geopolitical, social, and technological uncertainty out there. Much of it is emanating from the day-to-day whims of the loose canon we have in the White House, but the impact of AI is still a major wild card.

As Scott Galloway and others have pointed out, 75% of the gains in the S&P 500 since November, 2022 (when ChatGPT launched) are driven by AI. While AI holds enormous promise, there’s a distinct chance we’re in the midst of a massive investment bubble, and even a modest correction would put a chill on corporate spending.

Strong businesses, the argument goes, are better positioned to weather any potential disruptions that may arise. And when such companies come on the market, they get A LOT of interest.

How Buyers Manage Uncertainty

The result is that while there is robust demand for quality companies, buyers are taking measures to protect themselves. Below are some examples, though bear in mind these are general assessments, and each deal is unique.

• Longer Deal Times. Deals are taking longer to get done. Whereas in the past it might take 8 months from when a company goes to market to when a transaction closes, now it’s 10 months, as they’re being more thorough in the due diligence phase.

• Less Cash at Closing. Another way buyers mitigate risk is to pay less cash at closing, and shift more of the purchase price to deferred payments or earn outs. Earn outs can often be quite lucrative for sellers if they’re structured properly, and if the details for calculating them are specified up front. Sellers of quality companies, which generate multiple bids, are able to push back and demand more cash up front.

• Longer Earn Outs. The less predictable a company’s revenue is, the longer of an earn out they’re likely to ask for. What might have been 2-3 years previously, now might be 3-5 years.

Conclusion

The landscape can change rapidly, of course, as disruptions can hit at any time. A market crash caused by the AI bubble popping, a new war or an escalation of an existing one, or something totally unforeseen, could certainly put a chill on the M&A space.

But right now, despite a roller coaster of a year, the fundamentals of the events industry, powered by a variety of Tailwinds, remain incredibly strong. And a broad array of players are acting on it, fueling the robust M&A market we’re seeing.

Here’s to taking your event business to the next level!

Howard Givner
Senior Advisor | Oaklins: DeSilva & Phillips (M&A) email me
CEO | Heathcote Advisory Group (Consulting) email me

Thanks for reading! Please give me feedback by hitting reply.

Catch up on recent articles:

• Event Industry Awards: The Good, the Bad, and the Shameless

• Mastering the Exit Strategy: Insights On Selling Event Businesses.

• The Hollywood Staffing Model

• The View From Private Equity: Truelink Capital’s Luke Myers on the GES Acquisition, Investing in Events, and Why Deals Collapse

• Tailwinds

• Preparing Your Event Business For Sale

• 15 Agency CEOs Walk Into A Bar . . .

If and when you’re ready, here are ways I work with event business owners:

• Business Coaching & Owner Accountability

• Business Diagnostic & Company Valuation

• Growth Consulting

• Exit Planning

• M&A (Buy Side & Sell Side)

Wanna chat? Email me, or schedule an intro call.

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