Proly mean even HIGHER ticket prices.............
Birmingham’s National Exhibition Centre, home of the MCIA’s annual Motorcycle Live! industry showcase and host to Motorcycle Trade Expo for a number of years, has a new proprietor. American private equity giant Blackstone has acquired its NEC Group parent for a cool £800m. BDN financial editor Roger Willis reports.
Blackstone’s purchase price is more than double the £307m out-going owner Lloyds Banking Group investment arm LDC coughed up for the business in 2015. Birmingham City Council had been forced to sell NEC Group to LDC when it discovered a £1bn-plus black hole in municipal accounts, after being found guilty of under-paying female employees over a long period.
NEC Group profits, as measured by underlying earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) have doubled under LDC ownership, reaching £54.7m in the year to March 2017.
The package which has changed hands primarily consists of five Birmingham venues – the National Exhibition Centre (NEC), International Convention Centre (ICC), Arena Birmingham, Resorts World and Genting Arena, and the Vox Conference Centre. NEC Group has also recently secured a contract to operate the refurbished Bradford Odeon events venue in Yorkshire. Exhibitions, arena and conference centre operations are complemented by its ticketing agency, The Ticket Factory, hospitality brand Amplify, catering business Amadeus and sponsorship consultancy NEC Connect Group.
Commenting on his new US master, NEC Group chief executive Paul Thandi said: “Blackstone’s track record in scaling companies, sector knowledge and unrivalled real-estate capabilities, make it the ideal new partner for NEC Group to realise the next phase of our ambitious growth strategy.”
Blackstone already owns £200m-turnover events and exhibitions group Clarion Events, which is headquartered in London and has offices around the world.
Birmingham’s National Exhibition Centre, home of the MCIA’s annual Motorcycle Live! industry showcase and host to Motorcycle Trade Expo for a number of years, has a new proprietor. American private equity giant Blackstone has acquired its NEC Group parent for a cool £800m. BDN financial editor Roger Willis reports.
Blackstone’s purchase price is more than double the £307m out-going owner Lloyds Banking Group investment arm LDC coughed up for the business in 2015. Birmingham City Council had been forced to sell NEC Group to LDC when it discovered a £1bn-plus black hole in municipal accounts, after being found guilty of under-paying female employees over a long period.
NEC Group profits, as measured by underlying earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) have doubled under LDC ownership, reaching £54.7m in the year to March 2017.
The package which has changed hands primarily consists of five Birmingham venues – the National Exhibition Centre (NEC), International Convention Centre (ICC), Arena Birmingham, Resorts World and Genting Arena, and the Vox Conference Centre. NEC Group has also recently secured a contract to operate the refurbished Bradford Odeon events venue in Yorkshire. Exhibitions, arena and conference centre operations are complemented by its ticketing agency, The Ticket Factory, hospitality brand Amplify, catering business Amadeus and sponsorship consultancy NEC Connect Group.
Commenting on his new US master, NEC Group chief executive Paul Thandi said: “Blackstone’s track record in scaling companies, sector knowledge and unrivalled real-estate capabilities, make it the ideal new partner for NEC Group to realise the next phase of our ambitious growth strategy.”
Blackstone already owns £200m-turnover events and exhibitions group Clarion Events, which is headquartered in London and has offices around the world.
