U.K.-based global events, data and media platform Arc has acquired five rural sector events from B2B trade show company Fortem International. Now part of Arc’s Agriconnect business, which provides information, events and digital platforms for the U.K. agriculture community, the five collocated events are expected to add additional depth and reach across this expansive sector while continuing to connect U.K. farmers and landowners seeking alternative sources of income.  

“We are excited to add the rural and leisure portfolio to Agriconnect, which is already one of the U.K.’s largest agricultural information and events platforms,” said Sanjeev Khaira, who leads Agriconnect as a director at Arc. “The addition of this portfolio…gives us more opportunities to empower and inspire people and businesses in agriculture. We view this transaction as the beginning of a long-term partnership.”  

These events include:

Farm Business Innovation is designed to provide expertise, advice and resources to innovate, diversify and make more money from land. Whether diversifying into glamping, looking into alternative crops or livestock, starting a spa, running events, weddings, farm shops or revitalizing rural retail, the event offers an abundance of ideas for landowners looking to expand.  

Holiday Park & Resort Innovation provides expert advice and an abundance of ideas for holiday park owners looking to grow, develop or improve their business. Collocated within Rural Entrepreneur, the show offers participants an endless number of opportunities to expand and diversify their holiday park or resort.  

Family Attraction Expo is designed to provide visitors with the most exciting entertainment products and services to transform their commercial leisure or holiday parks. 

Country House Business Innovation is where estate, manor or country house owners can source information and advice on funding, grants, planning, new products, new services, new ideas, troubleshooting, business tips, marketing tools, networking, inspiring keynote sessions, like-minded professionals and potential partnerships. 

Leisure Food & Beverage Expo is the U,K.’s leading event for leisure, tourism, sports and entertainment venues to find all the products and services they need to enhance their on-site customer offerings.  

The existing team at Fortem International will continue to run the rural and leisure show portfolio through its next edition, set for Nov. 2-3, 2022, at the National Exhibition Centre (NEC) in Birmingham, U.K., according to Arc officials.

“We are pleased to be entering into a partnership with the Arc team and are excited for the growth potential of the rural and leisure portfolio as it becomes part of Agriconnect and Arc,” said Tom Borthen, CEO of Fortem International. “We see this as a tremendous opportunity to learn from each other and leverage our collective content and events experience in order to develop more opportunities for our customers to come together and make the connections they need.” 

Canson Capital Partners, a participant in the partnership since its inception, served as financial adviser to Arc.  

The purchase of the shows marks Arc’s second acquisition as it continues to develop its position as a next-generation events and media platform for global B2B communities. In August, the event industry consortium acquired Farmers Guardian Ltd and LAMMA Ltd, the U.K. agriculture division of AgriBriefing. 

Arc is backed by investment funds managed by EagleTree Capital, a leading New York-based middle-market private equity firm. Led by 20-year exhibition and media industry veteran Simon Foster, Arc’s exclusive partnership with EagleTree was established in May of 2021 with the goal of focusing on acquiring single or groups of market-leading events, as well as forming joint venture partnerships with organizations, associations and venues. 

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