St. Louis, MO — Experient has been acquired by Maritz Travel in a deal that will result in Experient becoming a wholly owned division of Maritz.
Experient CEO Jeff Price will step down as CEO. “This is a great day for Experient employees and our clients,” he said. “I am particularly excited about the cultural fit between Maritz and Experient.”
The two companies provide “end-to-end” service for the meeting and events industry and will create a Maritz that has a dozen regional offices. Experient specializes in providing trade show organizers with registration, housing, site sourcing, contract negotiation and lead retrieval.
Terms of the deal were not announced but Maritz President David Peckinpaugh said the acquisition was made at a time when the events business was picking up momentum following the recession. “Spend is returning to pre-recession levels, and together Maritz Travel and Experient are leading the market in delivering the flexibility and range of services organizations needed to achieve growing and increasingly aggressive business results,” he said.
“I have done what I set out to do,” Price told Trade Show Executive. “I’m not sure what the next chapter will bring, but I’m sure it will not be retirement. I’m going home to Colorado for some rest and relaxation, but I expect to be back involved in the trade show and events industry soon.” Price said Maritz is a great fit for Experient and its employees. “Experient is the result of the roll-up of three family-owned businesses, including ITS, Conferon and ExpoExchange. I think it will be a great benefit to Experient employees to be part of a family-owned company again,” he said.
Reach Jeff Price at (301) 694-5243 or jeff.price@experient-inc.com; David Peckinpaugh at (636) 827-4000 or david.peckinpaugh@maritz.com
