LONDON — Since Simon Foster took the reins as CEO of Arc in May 2021, his mission has been to create a next-generation events and media business. As former CEO of Comexposium, and having spent years before that as CEO of UBM EMEA and UBM Americas, he has now spearheaded the EagleTree Capital-backed B2B platform’s acquisition of Incisive Media’s financial services and business sustainability brands. These include Professional Pensions and its sister brands: Investment Week, Professional Adviser, Cover, International Investment, Financial Services Forum, and BusinessGreen.
“This is a pivotal step in the evolution of Arc,” Foster said. “We are pleased to welcome Incisive Media CEO Jonathon Whiteley and the financial services and business sustainability teams to Arc, and look forward to growing and developing these portfolios. We also look forward to further developing the Arc platform through this acquisition with the addition of more resources and channels with which we can grow our network.”
Last year, Arc acquired Farmers Guardian Ltd. and LAMMA Ltd., the UK agriculture division of AgriBriefing, making its Agriconnect business one of the UK’s largest agricultural information and events platforms. It then added five rural sector events, including Fortem International’s Farm Business Innovation and Holiday Park and Resort Innovation, further expanding its reach across the UK agriculture sector.
Incisive Media was established in 1995 and focused on the financial services, enterprise technology and business sustainability markets. The Channel Company, a leading IT channel-focused B2B marketing company, will acquire Incisive’s technology portfolio — a move that will reunite CRN and CRN UK, and which also includes the Computing and Channel Partner Insight brands.
Foster is Chairman of the Association of Exhibition Organisers (AEO) International Group and has been on the Society of Independent Show Organizers (SISO) Board.
Reach Simon Foster at simonafoster@live.com
LINKS
M&A Expert David Loechner on What Buyers Are Looking For
Arc Consortium and EagleTree Capital Form Partnership
Long-time Trade Show Exec David Loechner Joins Investment Bank
