The owner of the largest gaming industry trade show, ICE Totally Gaming, has been acquired by a venture capital company, it was announced today.
Clarion Events, organiser of the London show and a string of related gaming events around the world, has been taken over by Blackstone, a private equity fund. The company was bought from another venture capital company, Providence Equity Partners.
Clarion has nearly 1,000 employees and 13 offices around the world. The company has many trade events and conferences in other sectors than gaming and they number 180 in all, operated in 50 countries.
It was in 1947 that Clarion was originally founded and it has become a very internationally-based business, in so doing winning awards, especially for its organisation of gaming events, including ICE. Other sectors in which Clarion has interests include retail and home, defence and security, technology and energy.
Lionel Assant, head of European private equity at Blackstone, said: “We are delighted to invest in Clarion and back chairman Simon Kimble and CEO Russell Wilcox in the company’s next chapter. Clarion’s leading position in its markets combined with its strong management team will enable the company to continue growing both organically and through M&A.
"Blackstone has a significant track record of investing in media businesses as well as buy and build platforms. We look forward to working together with management to capitalise on its success.”
Andrew Tisdale, managing director at Providence, said: “We are delighted to have partnered with the outstanding team at Clarion. They have delivered both impressive organic growth and executed a compelling acquisition strategy. Clarion has developed an exceptional entrepreneurial culture and we feel fortunate to have worked with them so closely.
"We believe and fully support their strategy and its ongoing implementation and are pleased to have the option to participate in Clarion’s future success.” Providence, which invested in Clarion in 2015, has an option to reinvest a portion of its proceeds from the sale into Clarion.
Russell Wilcox, CEO of Clarion Events, added: “We are looking forward to our new partnership with Blackstone and see a great future going forward. The management team has enjoyed an immensely productive and successful relationship with Providence, who have been tremendous partners over the last two years.
"We have been impressed with Blackstone’s ambition and approach. With their support and strategic leadership, we will be looking to expand our global platform even further, both through consistent organic growth and the successful integration of acquisitions into the portfolio.”
Blackstone is a major global investment company and has over US$370bn in assets under management, including real estate, public debt and equity, non-investment grade credit, real assets and secondary funds.
