Fandom, Tech, and a Strong Q2 Start for Events M&A

After the new year opened with 11 event M&A deals in January, activity moderated through February and March, with 3 and 6 transactions respectively. April has delivered a busy start to Q2 M&A activity in the events sector, with 9 notable transactions spanning audiophile expos, horticultural festivals, retail tech fairs, and tokenized asset conferences. 

Among the more interesting deals in April was Collect-A-Con – a sports cards and collectibles convention – bought by a group of multiple investors including MARI Group, Apollo, Ares, RedBird Capital Partners, and the Qatar Investment Authority. With EVO being acquired by Qiddiya City earlier in the year, we are seeing a clear trend of sophisticated investor money flowing into gaming and pop culture fandom communities. The diversity of the Collect-A-Con investors – PE alongside sports media and sovereign wealth – signals that these ‘new economy’ properties are increasingly being treated as serious assets, not niche gatherings. We expect more capital to flow into such events as investors look for passionate, recurring audiences. 

The demand for specialized events has remained high for the past couple of years and April was no exception. AXPONA (Audio Expo North America) was acquired by Sound and Fury LLC, while Lightapalooza – a conference and trade show focused on residential illumination, energy control, and natural light optimization – was acquired by AVIXA. Both are communities where deep domain credibility matters more than broad reach.

NY Now – a  multi-day wholesale event in the gift, home, lifestyle and accessories industries – was acquired by the newly formed Rockview Management Group. NY Now has a history of more than 100 years – with legitimacy and relationships that would be almost impossible to replicate from scratch. 

In mid-April, backed by PE firms Cobepa and Inflexion, Easyfairs completed its acquisition of Paris-based Food Hotel Tech and Tech For Retail – two market-leading events dedicated to innovation in the hospitality and retail sectors. Rather than treating each event as a standalone asset, buyers are increasingly assembling adjacent verticals and taking advantage of shared infrastructure costs while cross-selling to their portfolio.

The RWA Desk, an event at the intersection of finance and blockchain, was acquired by tokenized equity platform Fairmint. This combines Fairmint’s technology with an events and media platform for wall street leaders – giving the buyer institutional relationships and an established audience.

Two prominent developments from May are worth flagging. Searchlight Capital invested in CloserStill alongside existing owner Providence, in a deal valuing the business at over £1.3 billion. There has been some talk about large scale portfolio companies failing to trade in 2025 – but this may be the catalyst that gets large-platform M&A moving. Apollo’s agreements to acquire both Emerald and Questex, with the intention of combining them into a platform of over 160 events, reinforces that signal. With these two significant PE moves in quick succession, conditions for continued bolt-on activity look favorable heading into the second half of the year.

This thought-leadership report is powered by Grimes, McGovern & Associates, a leading, lower, middle-market Mergers & Acquisitions firm advising media, events, and information services businesses globally. See our transactions here.