Arc accelerates U.S. development; signs agreement to acquire HR Tech and Ed Tech portfolios

LONDON, 13 October 2022 - Arc, the global events, data, and media platform backed by investment funds managed by EagleTree Capital, announced today it has entered into an agreement to acquire a portfolio of event and related media assets serving the HR Technology (“HR Tech”) and Education Technology (“Ed Tech”) sectors from LRP Media Group.  Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

The acquisition will be the sixth and largest acquisition for Arc in the fourteen months since inception and will add substantial scale to the overall Arc platform. The assets will also significantly expand the Arc network in the U.S. creating a robust complement to Arc’s European business.

Simon Foster, Group CEO of Arc, said “This is a major development for Arc. The acquisition will expand our capabilities and operations in the U.S., and bring an experienced team, strong brands, and more high-growth verticals into the network. The HR Tech and Ed Tech teams have an impressive track record of launching and developing their brands, and we’re looking forward to working with our new colleagues to grow these portfolios and to further develop Arc in the United States.”

Ken Kahn, President & Founder of LRP Media Group, added, “The HR Tech and Ed Tech portfolios include nine best-in-class brands that the teams have done a fantastic job transforming and expanding over many years. We are incredibly proud of the teams and brands and believe that we have found a great home for them with Simon and the Arc team. We look forward to watching them succeed in this new era.”

These portfolios reflect Arc’s strategy to connect business communities wherever, whenever, and however they need. They provide a diverse range of engagement solutions for facilitating networking and business growth. The professionals are brought together through content platforms and networking events, like HR Technology Conference and Expo, Future of Education Technology Conference, HR Executive, District Administration and University Business.

This acquisition is expected to close at the end of October. Canson Capital Partners, an Arc founding partner, served as financial adviser to Arc. Jones Day and Plural Strategy Group served as Arc’s legal adviser and strategy advisor, respectively. JEGI CLARITY (www.jegiclarity.com), a pre-eminent M&A advisory firm for the media, marketing, information and technology industries, represented LRP Media Group in this transaction.

About

 

Arc

Arc is a B2B events, data, and media platform, backed by investment funds managed by EagleTree Capital. Founded to redefine business networking, Arc organises over 120 events a year and operates critical content platforms in HR technology, agriculture and food, financial services and investing and education technology. Arc is over 300 talented colleagues located in the U.S., U.K., Netherlands and Singapore that focus on seeking out new ways to connect communities, wherever, whenever, or however people need to come together to grow their businesses. For more information, visit www.arc-network.com or find Arc on LinkedIn.

 

EagleTree Capital

EagleTree Capital is a leading New York-based middle-market private equity firm that has completed over 40 private equity investments and over 80 add-on transactions over the past 20+ years. EagleTree primarily invests in North America in the following sectors: media and business services, consumer, and water and specialty industrial. For more information, visit www.eagletree.com or find EagleTree on LinkedIn.

 

Canson Capital Partners

Canson Capital Partners is a leading Alternative Capital focused Advisory and Merchant Banking firm. Providing senior advice and principal to principal engagement, we seek to connect sources of Alternative Capital with specific opportunities enabling our clients to achieve their long-term strategic objectives. Since inception, Canson has advised on transactions with an aggregate enterprise value of c.$70 billion, with a strong track record of partnership focused transactions, and have c. $500m AUM invested alongside our clients. Notably, Canson advised Providence on its £600m sale of Clarion Events to Blackstone. Canson Capital Partners is the trading name of Canson Ltd, which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. For more information, please visit www.cansoncp.com.

 

LRP Media Group

LRP Media Group, founded in 1977, is an innovative media giant serving millions of business and education professionals worldwide. Specializing in education administration, education law, education technology, federal employment, and human resources. For more information, visit www.lrp.com/about or find LRP Media Group on LinkedIn.

 

Contact

Caitlin Read [email protected]

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Vincent Brain joins Arc as General Manager of Bridge2Food

London, 20 June 2022 - 2022 - Arc, the global events, data, and media platform backed by investment funds managed by EagleTree Capital, announced today that experienced events industry leader, Vincent Brain, will join the network as general manager of its Bridge2Food business.

For nearly 20 years, Vincent has been working on brand transformation and expansion in the events and media industry. He began his events career at UBM, now Informa plc, where he notably led the global expansion of the Food Ingredients portfolio. He spent nearly eight years with ITE plc, now Hyve, as EMEA regional director, based in Turkey, and Group transformation and commercial director looking after business development and operational best-practice initiatives.

Vincent will be responsible for running the operations and growth plans for Bridge2Food and will work closely with Gerard Klein Essink, Founder of Bridge2Food, on the long-term vision and strategy for the portfolio. He will also collaborate with Arc Director, Sanjeev Khaira, on further expansion and integration activities for the portfolio.

About

Bridge2Food

Bridge2Food is a global leader in the plant-based foods and alternative proteins sector. Since 2002, it has been working to connect professionals, researchers and industry, to organize summits that grow ideas into actions, to educate in hands-on academy courses, and to develop ecosystems that foster innovation.

Arc

Arc is a B2B events and media platform, backed by investment funds managed by EagleTree Capital. Founded to redefine business networking, Arc organises over 100 events a year and runs some of the foremost content platforms in agriculture, business sustainability, and financial services. Based in the UK and the Netherlands, Arc operates three businesses and has 200 talented colleagues focused on seeking out new ways to connect communities, wherever, whenever, or however, people need to come together to grow their business.

EagleTree Capital

EagleTree Capital is a leading New York-based middle-market private equity firm that has completed over 35 private equity investments and over 75 add-on transactions over the past 20+ years. EagleTree primarily invests in North America in the following sectors: media and business services, consumer, and water and specialty industrial. For more information, visit www.eagletree.com or find EagleTree on LinkedIn.

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Arc acquires rural and leisure portfolio from Fortem International

LONDON, November 29th, 2021 – Arc, the global events, data, and media platform backed by investment funds managed by EagleTree Capital, announced today it has acquired five rural sector events from Fortem International. These events will become part of Arc’s Agriconnect business (Farmers Guardian Ltd. and LAMMA Ltd.), adding additional depth and reach across the expansive UK agriculture sector.

The five co-located events in the portfolio connect UK farmers and land owners who are seeking alternative sources of income.

Sanjeev Khaira, who leads Agriconnect, said, “We are excited to add the rural and leisure portfolio to Agriconnect, which is already one of the UK’s largest agricultural information and events platforms. The addition of this portfolio, which includes leading events Farm Business Innovation and Holiday Park and Resort Innovation, gives us more opportunities to empower and inspire people and businesses in agriculture. We view this transaction as the beginning of a long term partnership.” The existing team at Fortem International will continue to run the portfolio through the next edition, November 2nd and 3rd 2022.

Tom Borthen, CEO of Fortem International said, “We are pleased to be entering into a partnership with the Arc team, and are excited for the growth potential of the rural and leisure portfolio as it becomes part of Agriconnect and Arc. We see this as a tremendous opportunity to learn from each other and leverage our collective content and events experience in order to develop more opportunities for our customers to come together and make the connections they need.”

This is Arc’s second acquisition as it continues to develop its position as a next generation events and media platform for B2B communities around the world. Canson Capital Partners (“Canson”), a participant in the partnership since its inception, served as financial adviser to Arc.

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Simon Foster led consortium, Arc, enters into partnership with EagleTree Capital

Simon Foster Led Consortium, Arc, Enters into Partnership with EagleTree Capital

Aiming to build a next generation events business, the partnership seeks to buy trade show assets

LONDON and NEW YORK, 11 May 2021 — EagleTree Capital (“EagleTree”), a New York based private equity firm, and Arc, a global events industry consortium led by Simon Foster, announced today an exclusive partnership to build the next generation events business. The partnership will focus on acquiring single, or groups of, events, as well as forming joint venture partnerships with organisers, associations, and venues. Canson Capital Partners (“Canson”) has been providing financial advisory services to Arc since inception and will join funds managed by EagleTree in the partnership and continue to provide services going forward.

Simon Foster, a 20-year exhibition and media industry veteran, said, “We want to build the future of networking. Everyone in this partnership is experienced in developing the power and potential of live events. Our aim is to build the next generation events business. Fuelled by our expertise, and the energy of face-to-face events, we want to take the next step in connecting and supporting communities and building business networks.”

Simon previously served as CEO at Comexposium, UBM EMEA, and UBM Americas (now part of Informa PLC). As part of Arc, Simon is joined by an international consortium of knowledgeable and highly-experienced events industry professionals, who have a common desire to redefine what it means to connect communities. The team aims to improve business networking by putting data and insight at the core of industry communities, and, with an approach centred on industry knowledge, to make tactical investments in sector-leading brands.

EagleTree has been a long-time supporter of the media and events sector. Current and past investments in the space include Northstar Travel Group, ALM, and Penton. The firm also has several investments in businesses that serve the live events industry, notably, Moss and Sparks.

“Simon and I worked together at UBM, and I am very excited to partner with him to help build and scale a leading events and trade show business,” said Robert Gray, Operating Partner at EagleTree. “Our combined resources are coming together at an opportune time, and we’re excited to help the team source and grow assets.”

“We are long-term believers in face-to-face events, and we’re very excited to work with the Arc team. We view the current climate as an opportunity to leverage our experience in the space to help strengthen brands in the sector and build a trade shows and events platform for the future,” added EagleTree’s Co-Managing Partner, Anup Bagaria and Senior Partner Michael Struble, in a statement.

“We’ve been delighted to partner with Arc, and this is an exciting step in its evolution. The experience and resources of EagleTree will help to accelerate the vision to build and grow the next generation events business,” said James Simpson, co-founder of Canson.

The partnership is in active discussions to add assets to its platform. It is seeking out strong brands, in responsible and sustainable sectors, that will deliver long-term value and grow with the addition of strategic investment and dedicated focus.

Arc

Arc aims to redefine the business network by building the next generation events business. With a customer-centric approach, guided by data and intelligent insight, Arc seeks out ways to connect communities, wherever, whenever, or however, people need to come together to meet, network, learn, and grow their businesses. Consistently delivering value in a responsible and sustainable manner.

EagleTree Capital

EagleTree Capital is a leading New York-based middle-market private equity firm that has invested approximately $2.7 billion of equity capital since inception. The Firm has completed over 35 private equity investments and over 70 add-on transactions over the past 20+ years. EagleTree primarily invests in the following sectors: media and business services, consumer, and water and specialty industrial. For more information, please visit www.eagletree.com.

Canson Capital Partners

Canson Capital Partners (Canson) is a leading Alternative Capital focussed Advisory and Merchant Banking firm. Providing senior advice and principal to principal engagement we seek to connect sources of Alternative Capital with specific opportunities enabling our clients to achieve their long term strategic objectives. Canson has advised on over $54 billion of transactions since inception, with a strong track record of partnership focused transactions, and have c. $500m AUM invested alongside our clients. Notably, Canson advised Providence on its £600m sale of Clarion Events to Blackstone. Canson Capital Partners is the trading name of Canson Ltd, which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.

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