Clarion Capital Partners has completed the acquisition of Marketplace Events, the largest organizer of business-to-consumer shows in North America.
Marketplace Events currently operates more than 110 consumer shows in the home and garden, sport and outdoor, and holiday sectors, as well as 11 recently acquired trade shows, across 54 markets in the U.S. and Canada. Leveraging scale, technology, and predictability, Marketplace Events brings together 30,000 exhibitors, more than 2.2 million consumers, and 5 million unique web visitors on an annual basis. The company employs 180 people.
“We are excited about our investment in Marketplace Events—the clear market leader in the B2C events industry in North America,” said David Ragins, president of Private Equity for Clarion Capital Partners. “They are quickly developing their expertise across additional end markets while being the acquirer of choice, but it is the value they place on their employees and their strong workplace culture that aligns so well with Clarion’s own vision,” he continued. Just two months ago, Clarion was recognized as one of the 2024 Best Places to Work by Crain’s New York Business.”
The organizational structure, operations and employee base of Marketplace Events are not affected by this transaction. All current shows and staff will continue with the business.
The announcement comes on the heels of the largest acquisition in the company’s history. In June, Marketplace Events acquired 31 shows from Master Promotions in Canada. “We expect our new partnership with Clarion will allow us to accelerate our growth even further and offer new opportunities for our staff, our exhibitors, and partners,” explained Mark White, CEO of Marketplace Events. “We have a long history of buying and growing home and holiday shows, and we are excited to continue on that path while also building out our sport and outdoor business and our new B2B shows,” White continued. “The business has now fully recovered to beyond pre-COVID levels and has never been stronger,” said White.
The company expects to announce six new shows in the next two months which will take the portfolio to 120 total events.
