BtoB Media Business - November 2011 - (Page 25)

M&A On with the show Following the acquisition of events company GLM, McCurdy sets the stage for expansion ANALYST INSIGHT Hal Greenberg Partner, VSS Structured Capital Funds gy for a trade show group really extends comhen Charles McCurdy was CEO of panies’ services in the marketplace rather than Canon Communications from 2005 substitutes them.” through 2010, the company had a GLM’s portfolio is already growing. Surf narrow focus on global manufacturing. It was Expo, a semi-annual event held in Orlando, built on a dual strategy: expanding face-to-face Fla., is adding another show to the mix. The events, both domestically and internationally, new event, Launch, will debut next July in and leveraging them into a variety of digital Santa Monica, Calif., and cater to board sports sources for both customers and prospects. retailers and suppliers. The strategy succeeded, as McCurdy sold Also next year, GLM will introduce AcCanon to UBM for $287 million in September tion Sports Expo Asia in Singapore and an 2010. The price tag represented a 7.8 times event in Chicago that will be tied to the comEBITDA multiple. pany’s existing Antique Jewelry & McCurdy said that he wants to Watch shows in Las Vegas, Miami deploy a similar media model for and New York. events company George Little ManMcCurdy said he also wants to agement (GLM), which he acquired expand the digital offerings of the in late September for $173 million New York International Gift Fair, Nawith backing from Providence Equitional Stationery Show and Surf ty Partners. Expo, which feature online catalog GLM, which targets the business- McCurdy galleries. “We’re developing a more to-retailer market, produces 15 trade shows robust audience database capability that can serving a variety of industries. These sectors help support lead/sales generation for exinclude beach, board sports, home furnish- hibitors and suppliers in the industry.” ings, personal care, home textiles, fashion and Mike Parker, managing director at media hospitality. The events annually showcase investment bank AdMedia Partners, said Mcabout 11,000 exhibitors in 1.8 million net Curdy’s strategy may be a “precursor” to square feet of exhibit space, and attract ap- what’s ahead for the b-to-b media industry as proximately 150,000 attendees. traditional print revenue continues to decline. McCurdy, chairman of GLM, said the “He [realized] early on that events and the company is now looking at other media prop- interaction between digital and events is goerties to acquire. ing to be a very important part of being suc“A strong trade show is a vital function cessful in b-to-b media in the future,” Parker that is not disintermediated the way it’s been said. “Business publishers with a lot of expofor print newspapers and magazines,” he said. sure to print would be smart to take a hard “A properly executed digital and data strate- look at what he’s doing.” BY MATTHEW SCHWARTZ W A roundup of recent mergers and acquisitions M&A ACTION Date Property 9/11 Accuity Holdings 8/11 Focus Research Bureau of National Affairs Description Online subscription-based data for financial services companies Provider of online lead generation for IT vendors Provider of legal, tax, regulatory and environmental information services Seller Investcorp Buyer Reed Elsevier Ziff Davis Media Bloomberg Focus Research Bureau of National Affairs 8/11 he b-to-b media sector is destined for growth again, according to Veronis Suhler Stevenson’s recently released “Communications Industry Forecast.” Hal Greenberg, partner of VSS Structured Capital Funds, recently spoke with Media Business about the outlook for the sector. Media Business: B-to-b media is back on the growth path. What is driving this? Hal Greenberg: It’s back on a growth path, but it depends upon what part you’re looking at. Certainly, (print) advertising, which had a decent year actually in 2011, in the longer term will still be under considerable stress. But the whole of b-to-b media should grow. Things like the iPad and the (other) tablets will actually be a driving influence. It’s still in transition, but the more things are read in tablet form, it will be more interactive than a one-way magazine would be. You’ll start to get more creative approaches to advertising broadly speaking than you might if you had just a print property. MB: How has the growth of digital impacted b-to-b media? Greenberg: If you look at an advertiser like, say, Caterpillar, when you go back a decade or so ago, the only way of reaching its clients was with magazines, trade shows and other kinds of events. That was formulaic for many years. But with the whole advent of the Web, Caterpillar said to itself, “I can reach my customers, and my dealers and the customers of my dealers directly through the Web.” A lot of money has been spent by the Caterpillars of this world on their own websites and marketing. Their advertising and promotional dollars aren’t necessarily going down. It’s been rejiggered, and a lot of it is being spent in-house. —S.C. Digital to drive media growth T M&A Source: Jordan, Edmiston Group Transaction Database, 2011 mediabusinessonline.com | November 2011 | Media Business | 25 http://www.mediabusinessonline.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of BtoB Media Business - November 2011

BtoB Media Business - November 2011
Contents
Upfront
Cover Story
Resource Guide
Sales & Marketing
M&A
Audience Development
Events
Production
People
Benchmarks
Endnote

BtoB Media Business - November 2011