CHICAGO — At the end of June 2026, two major event-industry acquisitions were announced.
Trade Show Executive (TSE) discussed the strategies behind these moves with Hyve Group and Life Science Connect’s (LSC) CEOs.
Hyve Group Acquires Virtuosi League
Hyve Group acquired Virtuosi League, a leadership, learning and community platform for C-Suite marketing professionals.
This move reflects Hyve Group’s strategy of investing in premier, founder-driven businesses that occupy trusted positions in growing industry ecosystems, and builds on the organization’s established presence in the marketing sector through the acquisition of the B2B event POSSIBLE.
“We’ve built our reputation on bringing industries together through market-leading events,” Mark Shashoua, Hyve Group’s CEO, said. “The acquisition of Virtuosi League answers a deliberate part of our strategy to go deeper into the heart of the ecosystems we support — just as we have done by acquiring the HGAN brokerage product and launching our VIP dinner series called HLTH Entreé as valuable extensions of our healthcare events. It’s highly complementary to what we already do and strengthens our position in one of our most important SuperVerticals.
“Our job is not to reinvent Virtuosi League — this is a fantastic business with a unique proposition. What Hyve brings is global scale, operational expertise and a proven track record of helping premium brands realize their potential, while preserving their own brand of magic.”
Created by Founder Nadine Dietz, Virtuosi League has built a distinctive position in the marketing world with its executive forums, leadership development programs, proprietary thought leadership and curated peer-to-peer community, creating trusted environments where senior leaders can learn from one another, challenge assumptions and navigate transformation.
“Virtuosi League has built something genuinely rare. In a world full of content, Nadine and the team have created a community that senior marketing leaders trust,” Shashoua said. “What stood out to us wasn’t just the quality of the products, but the depth of the relationships, the caliber of the membership and the role Virtuosi League plays at the center of the marketing community.
“For me, this is exactly the kind of acquisition Hyve should be making. It’s a founder-led business with a strong brand, a loyal community and a unique position within a growing industry. Those businesses don’t come along every day. We’re excited to welcome Nadine and the team to Hyve and to learn from the expertise they’ve built in leadership, learning and community.”
Related. Hellman & Friedman to Acquire Hyve Group
LSC Acquires PharmaSource and CDMO Live
LSC acquired PharmaSource and CDMO Live, which are leading brands serving the biopharma outsourcing sector as part of Life Science Networks.
The acquisition will combine PharmaSource, CDMO Live Europe, CDMO Live Americas and External Manufacturing Leaders with LSC’s media platforms, including Outsourced Pharma and the CDMO Leadership Awards: Together, they will form a new events division within LSC, merging deep editorial expertise with significant scale and resources.
“If you consider a reader’s buying journey, LSC does a very good job of providing the information they need at different stages of that journey,” Jon Howland, CEO of LSC, said. “What we were missing is the face-to-face meetings that are critical in the life science industry. Now we can better serve our readership throughout the journey.”
Luke Bilton and Chris Kilbee formed Life Science Networks in 2023, identifying a clear gap in the market for content and events focused on biopharma outsourced manufacturing. The portfolio of partnering events, digital media and executive communities reaches 50,000 industry professionals.
LSC’s investment will empower the portfolio’s growth and it will use its AI-enabled technology platform to connect biopharma professionals to the information and suppliers they need.
Bilton and Kilbee will continue in their roles.
“Big picture, if you are going to build an events division, it must start with getting the right people,” Howland said. “Chris and Luke will be able to help us build and grow events we acquire in the future. As we build out our events division, the ideal partners are founders with a vision who have built an event(s) that truly serves a community but are at a point where they need additional resources to continue to build on that vision.
“Chris and Luke, and their extended team, have started strong with an AEO Excellence Award-winning launch and a vision of how to best serve their attendees. Plus, they have the founders’ scars of doing what it takes to be successful. You cannot lose with people like that on your team.”
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