According to News, Blackstone has enlisted Goldman Sachs to manage Clarion Events’ auction, which is anticipated to fetch a valuation of over £2 billion.
It is planned for the sale process to commence in 2025’s second quarter.
Clarion is the organization behind major international trade shows in sectors such as consumer electronics, gaming, and defense.
With Blackstone’s £600 million acquisition of the business in 2017, it has grown dramatically.
eventDuring the pandemic, the private equity company gave Clarion more funding after a series of lockdowns made the whole events business fearful for its future.
The extent of Clarion’s presence in China, where COVID-19 limitations were very severe, made those worries worse.
With its founding almost eight decades ago, Clarion employs almost two thousand individuals.
The corporate events industry is seeing a boom in dealmaking, and Ascential, the company behind the Cannes Lions advertising festival, has agreed to sell to Informa. This will coincide with the start of an auction process in 2019.
Blackstone did not respond to a request for comment.
