WIMBLEDON, UK — Phoenix Equity Partners is investing in Nineteen Group, a company that organizes trade shows in the security, fire, emergency services, health and safety, facilities management, and maintenance engineering industries. This is Phoenix Equity Partners’ second round of funding.
Phoenix partnered with Nineteen’s CEO and Founder Peter Jones in 2018 with an organic and acquisition-led growth strategy in place. Since then, Nineteen has grown exponentially.
“We are immensely proud to be able to further scale our business in partnership with Phoenix. With Phoenix’s backing the Nineteen team has ambitious plans to drive the next phase of growth, through building organically, launching new exhibitions and further acquisitions,” Peter Jones, CEO of Nineteen, said.
This new injection of capital will allow Nineteen to move to a larger continuation fund led by two globally recognized investors: Kline Hill Partners and Ares Management.
“Phoenix Equity Partners unwaveringly supported us through COVID. We went in with seven shows and 28 people. Since emerging, we have accelerated to 174 brilliant people and 21 shows, across three continents,” Jones said.
In the first round of funding, Nineteen Group averaged 30% year-over-year organic growth, launched nine shows, acquired seven businesses, built a headquarters in Wimbledon, and added offices in Hong Kong and Singapore. “We love the Phoenix team. They believe in face-to-face, they embrace culture-first, and quite frankly, been stellar-partners,” Jones said. “Our vision is to be the best show organizer and media business, globally, enabled by powerful culture.”
Private Equity Firms Bullish on Events
The influx of private equity capital in the trade show industry is on the rise. During Trade Show Executive’s Gold 100 Awards & Summit, Kathleen Thomas, Managing Director at JEGI, took to the stage to discuss the trade show industry landscape.
“People aren’t buying events and companies to tear them apart. They’re buying them for growth. We keep talking about this; they’re spending millions, 10s of millions, hundreds of millions, on companies because they want them to be worth two and three times that, and so the people who are driving those businesses are critical. They’re not looking to get rid of these people, change their roles or make them unhappy. They’re looking to write them a blank check or do whatever they need to do to support them to blow that growth up,” she said.
Related. Annual TSE Gold 100 Awards & Summit Shines a Light on the Biggest and Brightest
Industry experts agree that the industry is attractive to private equity in financial terms and growth.
Some recent deals include private equity firm Providence Equity Partners buying UK-based event organizer Hyve.
Another deal saw UK-based Informa acquiring the Tarsus Group in a deal worth a reported $940 million.
Most recently, Shamrock Capital replaced MSouth Equity Partners as trade show planning, labor management, and events company Nth Degree’s new investor. MSouth invested in the company in 2019. In those five years, Nth Degree has more than tripled the size of its business.
An interesting twist is the formation of the Events Venture Group (EVG) that aims to fuel the success of early-stage event ventures across all event categories. EVG provides access to a network of event industry leaders who offer invaluable advice, connections, and resources.
Reach Peter Jones at info@nineteengroup.com
