NEW YORK CITY — Emerald Holding, Inc. announced the acquisition of Lodestone Events, the producer of the Overland Expo series. The acquisition represents Emerald’s expansion into the B2C event space and its positioning of itself in high-growth markets.
“Lodestone team’s expertise in staging first-class consumer events and its deep connection with outdoor enthusiasts will be crucial as we officially launch into the B2C event space with Outdoor Adventure X this June 2023,” Emerald President and CEO Hervé Sedky said. “This inaugural consumer lifestyle event for Emerald supports the growing demand for outdoor experiences and creates opportunities for consumers to engage directly with their preferred products and brands while promoting the discovery of all things new in the outdoor space.”
Lodestone Events’ major event, Overland Expo, is a series made up of four annual shows held in Arizona, Oregon, Colorado and Virginia. The Overland Expo series will become a part of Emerald’s Action Sports and Outdoor Recreation portfolio. In 2022, 77,000 consumers and 1,300 exhibitors attended the Overland Expo series, which also had educational components with more than 1,000 classes offered.
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“The primary goal of Emerald’s Action Sports and Outdoor Recreation portfolio is to continue to build and evolve the portfolios, which include well-established, successful brands, including Outdoor Retailer, Surf Expo, and Shop Eat Surf,” Emerald EVP Jess Blue said. “We aim to achieve these goals through organic growth, acquisitions, and working with like-minded brands that complement our existing portfolios and share our values, connection and love for the industries we serve. The dynamics of our relationship have become stronger in the sense that moving from a partnership to a team untied under the same company makes all our collective processes, especially the creative process, more seamless and easier to implement.”
Lodestone Events is one of many acquisitions and launches in the past year, with Emerald announcing the acquisition of MJBiz in January 2022 and Advertising Week Global Events Platform in June 2022, Bulletin Inc. in July 2022 and the launch of Las Vegas Food & Beverage Industry Week in February 2022, Mentera in June 2022 and reMind in October 2022.
Lodestone Events was founded as a small, female and family-owned business, which makes this partnership especially meaningful. Lodestone Events represents the third acquisition of a company led by female founders in the past year with MJBiz and Bulletin being the first and second.
“Our overarching goal is to ultimately serve the entire outdoor recreation and action sports ecosystem, from the manufacturer to the retailer, and then, to consumer, as this is crucial to drive success for all of our customers and the industry overall,” Blue said.
Outdoor Adventure X will take place June 17-18, 2023, in Huntsville, Utah.
Reach Hervé Sedky at herve.sedky@emeraldx.com
