Questex, the 19-year-old, US-based B2B media company – which was this year recapitalised by its six-year owner MidOcean private equity after aborting a sale process – is now targeting acquisitions, probably with the following criteria:
- <$15-20mn revenue/ c$5mn EBITDA
- Existing or adjacent verticals in the US
- Diverse revenue from information, data and events
Questex operates in four broad areas with Life Sciences/ Healthcare and Hospitality/ Travel together accounting for 70% of revenue and Wellness and Experiential Technology for the rest. Almost 30% of revenue is accounted for by: International Hospitality Investment Forum (IHIF), in Berlin ($9mn), and the Bar & Restaurant Expo, Digital Pharma Week, Live Design International, and the International Beauty Show/ IECSC (each generating over $5mn).
Significantly, the revenue divides between: exhibition space and event sponsorship (50%), digital advertising/marketing services (30%) and visitor/delegates (20%). It’s genuinely multi-channel and CEO Paul Miller (ex UBM and Penton) is committed to building both information and events products. He is also keener on hybrid confex events than mainstream trade shows – which might reflect the relative valuations.
In many ways, the Questex distinctiveness stems from the digital revenue generated by its Fierce Markets whose Life Sciences and tech newsletters and events account for some $30mn. But its sheer level of innovation and new launches (more than a dozen new brands in the last few years) is fed by its strong centralisation of databases, audience management and systems, with relatively small but focused brand teams. This is encouraging the company to seek acquisitions that can be easily plugged into existing systems.
The post-Covid rebound is best illustrated by the revenue growth of Fierce Healthcare Digital, Fierce Life Sciences Digital and Digital Pharma East, which together will this year generate c$31mn of revenue (2019: $14mn). The company last year launched The Hospitality Show with the American Hotel & Lodging Association which generated $3.7mn of revenue in just five months. This year, it will generate over $5mn of revenue (35% growth) and the organic launch of IHIF in Asia was a million dollar geo-clone of the Berlin flagship. In turn, after acquiring the New York University investment conference, the event grew 30% to over $5mn under its first year of ownership
Questex revenue is now 85% from the US, with Europe (12%) and Asia (3%).
The projected financials for 2024 show it will just about achieve double-digit revenue growth in what has been a challenging year, especially for tech spending. But – coming after the abortive M&A process – Questex has not made any acquisitions in 2024: the growth is all organic.
| SnapShot Questex | ||||
| $mn | 2024* | 2023 | 2022 | 2019 |
| Rev | 113 | 103 | 88 | 74 |
| Ebitda | 31 | 28 | 22 | 15 |
| Margin | 28% | 27% | 25% | 20% |
| People | 275 | 265 | 275 | 239 |
The company had been co-founded in 2005 by former Reed and Advanstar executive Kerry Gumas. In 2009, in the wake of the global banking crisis, it was bankrupt and acquired by its lenders. After almost a decade of financial rehab, it was acquired in 2018 by MidOcean for an estimated $180mn.
At a time when Paul Miller’s former employer, UBM, had ditched even complementary B2B information services and magazines to concentrate on events (before itself being snapped up by Informa), the new Questex owner committed to building integrated market groups of events and media. By the time of the 2020-21 pandemic, the deal might have looked like unfortunate timing. But the CEO’s six years of growth, arguably, illustrates the company’s good fortune in being able to develop its multi-channel approach.
The whole story (so far) has been one of solid, consistent progress (including, crucially, in profit margins) in tough times. This year’s EBITDA will be double that for pre-pandemic 2019 on revenue up by 53%.
If there is one change of emphasis post-recapitalisation, it may be in Questex’s seeming reluctance to make acquisitions which would add to the 15% of revenue generated outside the US. But it is expected to make at least one bolt-on US acquisition in the next few months. Something to celebrate its 20th anniversary in 2025?
