Three event organizations in the U.S. and across the pond recently made strategic trade show acquisitions and formed new partnerships to enhance their offerings and increase their presence in key business segments. Take a look. 

Trifecta Collective Acquires TRANSACT

Trifecta Collective, a trade show platform owned and backed by leading U.S. private equity firm GreyLion, acquired TRANSACT from the Electronic Transactions Association (ETA), a global advocacy and trade association for the payments industry. 

As an annual event for the payments processing industry, TRANSACT’s 2024 edition was held April 17-19 at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas and attracted more than 250 exhibitors and 3,000 attendees. The 2025 show will take place April 2-4, 2025, at Mandalay Bay.

 “Partnering with Trifecta and GreyLion paves the way for elevating TRANSACT to unprecedented levels of quality and value,” said Jodie Kelley, CEO of ETA. “We are excited to collaborate and continue expanding the show for many years to come as we seek to better serve the payments and fintech industry and further position TRANSACT as a market-leading event.”

Nick Curci of Corporate Solutions in Westport, Conn. was the ETA’s exclusive advisor in arranging, structuring and negotiating this transaction. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. 

The acquisition marks Trifecta’s third trade show transaction that Corporate Solutions helped complete in the last two years, building on Trifecta’s additions of the North American Trailer Dealer Association, NATDA Trailer Show, and the International Mass Timber Conference to its growing event portfolio.

“This is another great acquisition for Trifecta Collective as the TRANSACT brand adds strength, scale and diversification to their existing multi-sector trade show business portfolio”, Curci said. “I am confident that Trifecta Collective and ETA together will enable the TRANSACT brand to grow to new heights given their depth of experience, current management team and support from their financial partners.” 

Formed by GreyLion and trade show industry veterans Rick McConnell and Jennifer Hoff, the latter of Taffy Event Strategies, Trifecta Collective has been building its portfolio of trade shows and events since 2021.

“I am delighted to welcome TRANSACT to Trifecta’s portfolio,” McConnell said. “This vibrant and influential show is a testament to ETA’s strategic efforts in building a strong, reputable brand within the fintech industry. We eagerly anticipate leveraging our partnership with ETA and our experience in the trade show industry to further propel TRANSACT’s success.”

RX Purchases Sustainable Energy Conferences 

Global events and exhibitions company RX acquired the Sustainable Energy Conferences Ltd (SEC), owner and organizer of World Hydrogen Summit & Exhibition (Rotterdam, Netherlands), Hydrogen Americas Summit & Exhibition (Washington, DC), Asia-Pacific Hydrogen Summit & Exhibition (Brisbane, Australia), and the Sustainable Energy Council brand.

Focused on the rapidly developing hydrogen sector, the events cover the entire value chain, including production, transmission, distribution, and storage, and the main end-user sectors, such as heavy industry and transportation

The trio of events joins and compliments RX’s growing portfolio of more than 400 events across more than 22 countries in 43 sectors, including clean energy. These include the All-Energy shows in the UK and Australia, the World Future Energy Summit in UAE, and Smart Energy Week in Japan.

“This acquisition is part of our strategy to expand in the growing low carbon sector,” said Hugh Jones, RX Global CEO. “Hydrogen is expected to be a large, high-growth, and international sector critical to the future of decarbonizing energy, industrial processes, and transportation. The SEC portfolio is highly regarded, and RX is well-placed to leverage its impact, with these events complementing and enhancing RX’s wider offering in the energy sector. I very much look forward to working with the team.” 

The SEC’s team of 21 permanent staff will join RX. Sustainable Energy Conferences Ltd. Founder Tim Clark expressed enthusiasm about joining RX.

“The global Hydrogen market continues to grow and revolutionize the energy world,” Clark said. “Joining RX will allow us to grow these events by leveraging their technology platforms, global network and operational expertise. I look forward to our teams sharing their know-how and commitment to evolve our brands and products.”

Iventis Forges Strategic Partnership with MIH Major Events

London, UK-based Iventis, a provider of collaborative event and venue planning solutions, formed a strategic partnership with event consultancy MIH Major Events aimed at elevating the event planning and delivery process and transforming how major events are envisioned and executed. 

Founded on a shared commitment to serving diverse audiences, including organizing committees, host cities, commercial event operators, and local authorities, and facilitating collaboration between them, the partnership will see the two entities work together to support city and event ambitions throughout an entire project lifecycle to ensure seamless event bidding, planning, and execution, according to Iventis officials. 

“We are excited to join forces with MIH Major Events,” said Joe Cusdin, CEO and founder of Iventis. “Our combined expertise and shared vision for facilitating collaboration among event stakeholders will undoubtedly enhance the planning and execution of major events. The integration of our innovative planning tools with MIH’s consultancy services will provide a best-in-class solution for host cities and organizers.” 

Both organizations boast a proven track record in the major and mega events sector, working on events such as the Birmingham Commonwealth Games 2022, Eurovision Song Contest 2023 in Liverpool, and the UCI Cycling World Championships in Glasgow, Scotland. More recently, the companies supported the host city and local organizing committee in delivering the SportAccord World Sport and Business Summit 2024, where their collaboration was initially conceived.

“Partnering with Iventis allows us to enhance our work with host cities and major events through cutting-edge visual planning technology,” explained Berna Ucel, co-founder of MIH, which has more than two decades of combined expertise in the major and mega events industry. “This partnership has benefits across so many areas of operational planning. We are specifically looking forward to developing some of the functions within city spaces, so we can start to look at the wider event footprint in the earlier planning stages and enable improved integrated planning.”

Have a trade show-related new business deal to share? Reach out to lisa.savas@informa.com and danica.tormohlen@informa.com.

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