Welcome to the first DealMakers in Flashes & Flames of 2026. With the exception of the well-telegraphed acquisitions by the UK’s increasingly global Nineteen Group, I had thought – by the end of November – we were more or less done for 2025. But a flurry of M&A activity in December pushed the overall number of 2025 event transactions to 73, the highest since 2019 (83).
Nineteen quickens the pace
Leading the December charge was Nineteen Group with four transactions – one in the UK and three in the US – its first acquisitions there. In the UK, it acquired Plantworx, the biennial working construction equipment event, from the Construction Equipment Association (CEA). Plantworx has been held at various venues in the past including Stoneleigh Park, the East of England Arena, and most recently at the Newark Showground, in the English midlands, but will move to the Birmingham’s National Exhibitions Centre for the next edition in 2027.
The CEA will remain directly involved through the Stakeholder Advisory Council. Earlier in 2025, Nineteen haad acquired the Commercial Vehicle Show from the Road Haulage Association (RHA) and the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) so it is experienced in traversing the move from association ownership to strategic partner.
Nineteen’s US acquisitions are diverse but synergistic with its UK portfolio, as follows:
- Reliabilityweb is a global community with a portfolio of events – International Maintenance Conference, The Reliability Conference, and MaximoWorld – together with professional training and certification programs such as Certified Reliability Leader and Certified Maintenance Manager. It was founded in 1999 by Terrence O’Hanlon and focuses on reliability engineering, maintenance, and asset performance and supports Nineteen’s strategy to build a connected portfolio of industry-leading brands across manufacturing, technology, and industry.
- The Lead is a portfolio of executive-level brand and retail leadership events and forums – The Lead Summit, The Direct 60 Forum, The D60 NEXT Forum, and The Foremost 50 Forum. It was founded in 2018 by Noah Gellman and is focused on senior retail executives, exploring the strategies, technology, and operating models shaping modern consumer businesses.
- SubSummit is a conference dedicated to subscription commerce serving founders and operators building recurring-revenue businesses across DTC, SaaS, and subscription-enabled commerce and fits with Nineteen’s retail and commerce events. Held in Kansas City, it was founded in 2018 by Chris George, John Haji and Paul Chambers.
As well as representing a step change in its transatlantic footprint, the three US acquisitions reflect a shift in emphasis for Nineteen, away from standard exhibitions towards forums, summits and confex-style events. Peter Jones, Group CEO of Nineteen, told me “We have had to change our mindset for North America, where the events landscape is very different. As a result, we are now far more open to the Summit model.”
The breakup of DVV’s UK business
The last transactions of the year – both signed on the morning of December 31st – saw the break up of DVV Media International, the UK arm of German media company DVV Media Group, owned by Rheinische Post Mediengruppe.
Mark Allen Group (MAG) acquired the Road portfolio including Road Transport Expo, and the magazines Commercial Motor, Motor Transport and Transport News while Dutch professional publisher ProMedia Group acquired the aviation, transport and HR portfolios which includes Air Cargo News, FlightGlobal, Railway Gazette and HeavyLift together with HR platforms including Personnel Today and Employee Benefits. In 2019 ,DVV had acquired both the HR business from Centaur and the aviation portfolio from Reed Business Information which had also formerly owned the Road portfolio.
The privately-owned MAG has media brands in aviation and transport alongside its broad publishing, information and events portfolio, but Road is a new vertical. It’s a perfect deal – a mix of publishing (including Commercial Motor and Motor Transport which are both over 100 years old) and exhibitions such as Road Transport Expo, first held in 2022 which is arguably the strongest performer in the portfolio. Ben Allen, CEO of MAG, told me that this was the easiest of MAG’s acquisitions to integrate as it already shared a London suburban office with DVV. Twenty-one people have moved over to MAG.
ProMedia Group was founded in the Netherlands in 2010 as a B2B trade publisher and event organiser, focused on transport, mobility, logistics and related sectors, with titles such as SpoorPro, RailTech, Railfreight.com, WorldCago News. This is its first meaningful foray into the UK and its UK subsidiary was set up specifically to acquire the DVV business.
LBR makes its third acquisition in 2025
Following its landmark acquisition of ALM in March and hot on the heels of the acquisition of Legal Geek in October, Law Business Research (LBR) has announced a strategic partnership between ALM and The Legal Tech Fund Summit (TLTF Summit). TLTF is a US invitation-only gathering for legal industry leaders, legaltech innovators, entrepreneurs, and investors. Although this has been announced as a strategic partnership, it looks suspiciously like an acquisition with ALM running the event in future. The two parties will align on shared themes and deliver coordinated thought leadership across ALM’s platforms, flagship events, and the TLTF Summit.
Marketplace Events’ largest deal to date
Marketplace Events (MPE), the serial acquirer of US Home Shows has announced its largest-ever acquisition with the purchase of 10 Build Expo trade shows from International Conference Management Inc., bringing its total portfolio to 126 annual events. The acquired events align with the company’s 65 consumer home shows, with approximately 30% of the Build Expo exhibitors also participating in MPE home shows. MPE was acquired by PE firm Clarion Capital Partners in January 2025.
Not the usual suspects – Parts 1,2 and 3
It’s unusual for an India media company to invest in US events but that is exactly what happened in December when Fairfest Mediaacquired travel trade show WTE Miami. Fairfest was founded by Sanjiv Agarwal in 1989 and focuses on tradeshows and publications in travel and urban developments, primarily in India. WTE Miami, which was launched in 2022, is Fairfest’s first show outside Asia. Agarwal described WTE – which had 300 exhibitors and 3,500 attendees in 2025 – as “an early-stage venture that will grow fast with our synergies” and indicated that there would be additional US acquisitions.
Another newcomer to Events M&A: Tekpon, a Romanian software aggregator and review platform, has announced the acquisition of The Next Web (TNW) media and events brands from The Financial Times (FT). The FT had acquired a majority stake in TNW in 2019 but, after a strategic review in September 2025, announced that it would close the brand. Tekpon subsequently acquired the brand. According to US publisher AMO, Tekpon founder Alexandru Stan said that he didn’t see any financials prior to acquisition: “The deal happened without me seeing any data. TNW is so well-known—especially across Europe and the US—that the brand’s strength alone meant they didn’t show me anything.” The acquisition marks Tekpon’s largest investment in media and events to dateis part of Tekpon’s long-term plan to build an international ecosystem connecting software, media, events, advisory, and innovation.
And yet another acquisition by a newcomer to Events M&A. the Axel Springer-owned Politico, has acquired a minority stake in the European Business Leaders’ Community (EBLC), which organizes the annual Northern Light Summit, a now-annual Chatham House gathering for business leaders that has run in Helsinki in the summer since 2002. Jamie Dimon (CEO, of JP Morgan), Henry Kissinger and Christine Lagarde are among its former speakers..
With this activity, 2025 has ended with 73 transactions and 37 different buyers. The highest number of transactions post-Covid.
Geographically, there has also been a marked shift to US transactions. In 2024, there were 18 US transactions (29% of the total) and this increased in 2025 to 32 transactions (44% of total).
2026 M&A has already started
Easyfairs wins the award for first transaction in 2026 with the acquisition of Dutch event ShowUP, the trade show for home and gifts. ShowUP will merge with Easyfairs own Trendz to create what is claimed to be the largest retail event in Benelux. Trendz has a strong position in home decoration, flowers and gifts whereas ShowUP is known for home, gifts, kids, stationery and lifestyle segments.
You can’t keep a good entrepreneur down
Less than two years ago, the UK-based Toby Walters and Sam Murray sold Elite Exhibitions, organiser of the Cruise Ship Interiors shows in Europe and the US, to CloserStill Media. They have spent the time since acquisition ensuring that the business continues to grow and put in place management transition allowing them to exit and start their next founders’ journey.
This week, they started the cycle again as Strive Exhibitions, with the announcement of the launch of the Hospitality Interiors Europe in Frankfurt. Last time around, they found it quite tough to get initial traction as a standalone event so this time, backed by the credibility of their previous venture, they have been able to agree with Messe Frankfurt to co-locate their launch in January 2027 alongside Heimtextil.
In previous columns, I have talked about how entrepreneurs are the lifeblood of the exhibition sector and how the larger organisers depend for much of their growth on acquiring startup businesses. No fewer than 49 of the 73 transactions concluded in 2025 were such acquisitions from founders. So, with this level of consolidation, the cycle of “sell and go again” is important. Welcome to 2026.
