• A memorandum of understanding has been signed for the 50 per cent acquisition of the German Trade show organiser’s companies in Canada, the USA and Mexico.
  • A total of ten trade shows are involved in the operation.
  • The 50-50 joint venture will be based in Rimini.

Italian Exhibition Group (IEG) and Deutsche Messe (Hannover) have recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) that foresees a 50 per cent acquisition on the part of IEG of Deutsche Messe’s companies in Mexico, Canada and the USA.

A valuable and powerful boost not only for the internationalisation process of their respective trade show products, but also for launching new activities in the economic sectors covered by both Italian Exhibition Group and Deutsche Messe.

Ten Trade Shows Are Involved in the Operation

To be precise, Deutsche Messe is active in Mexico with eight events, two of which – Mexico Active & Sports (Leon, 2 to 3 December 2022) for the fitness sector and Ecomondo Mexico for the green technologies sector – are already in partnership with IEG.

In fact, Deutsche Messe and Italian Exhibition Group, two of Europe’s largest exhibition organisers with pre-covid turnovers of €355 million and €179 million respectively, had already signed an initial business agreement in March 2021 to organise a series of events in Mexico.

The remaining six Mexican trade shows in Deutsche Messe’s portfolio are:

  • MEM Industrial in the technology, processing and accessories sector for the furniture industry, scheduled to take place in Mexico City from 7 to 9 March 2023.
  • Agrotech Mexico and World Seafood Industry which will take place simultaneously from 26 to 28 April 2023 in Guadalajara with focus respectively on technological innovation in the agricultural and aquaculture sectors.
  • Solar Power Mexico, leader in the field of solar energy and scheduled to take place in Leon from 12 to 14 July (alongside Ecomondo Mexico).
  • Festival del Adulto Mayor GTO (from 4 to 6 August 2022 in Leon) which focuses on wellness for the over-50s.
  • And lastly, again in Leon from 5 to 7 October 2022, Industrial Transformation Mexico dedicated to industry 4.0.

In Toronto, Canada, Deutsche Messe presides over the renewable energy sector with ETC Electricity Transformation Canada (to be held from 26 to 28 October 2022).

While it has taken Hannover Messe USA (12 to 17 September 2022 in Chicago), the American edition of the giant Hannover Messe, the absolute leader on the theme of industrial transformation, to the United States.

“We are very much looking forward to intensifying our cooperation with IEG as a competent, growth-oriented partner that manages a trade fair portfolio that ideally complements Deutsche Messe AG’s events in the Americas,” said Dr Jochen Köckler, Chairman of the Board of Management of Deutsche Messe AG. “Building on our very fruitful and positive initial experiences of working together in Mexico, we are now taking the next logical step and are aiming to further scale our success story.” 

“With this new and wide-ranging agreement,” commented Corrado Peraboni, CEO of IEG, “Deutsche Messe and IEG will add new elements of substantial sharing, making way for a stable and total collaboration that will bring together organisations and expertise and enhance the value of the activities carried out in the countries covered by the joint venture, which are strategic on the global economic chessboard. The absolutely complementary nature of the portfolios of the two companies is the best prerequisite for the agreement to turn out to be a win-win. IEG in particular will add the trade show branch to its activity in the United States, which so far, has focused on exhibition set-ups through the specialised company, FB International.”

The operation, which is subject to the positive outcome of the due diligence that is about to begin, will involve constituting a joint venture under Italian law that will be based in Rimini and which will control the overseas companies.