M&Awww.exhibitionnews.co.uk 15FabricWe have the solutions you're looking for . endless set-up options . lightboxes . magnetic display system RTD Systems Limited10 Lyon Road South Wimbledon London SW19 2RLsolutions@rtdsystems.co.uk www.octanorm.co.ukT 020 8545 2945 F 020 8545 2955DEALMAKERSTurkey, energy, publishing and event services deals fill this month's quota of international acquisitions, Steve Monnington discoversurkey continues to dominate M&A news. Hot on the heels of Tarsus' acquisition of IFO comes news that ITE has acquired 60 per cent of YEMF, organiser of TurkeyBuild, the leading construction exhibition in Istanbul with regional versions in Ankara and Izmir. The maximum amount payable for the initial stake is £16.3m which values the overall business at £27m - quite chunky for a single sector play. There were four sizeable independent organisers based in Istanbul and two are now under foreign control as the market continues to internationalise at pace. It will be interesting to see the new order at the Exposummit Turkey exhibition industry conference in Istanbul at the end of September.The energy sector remains a strong attraction for exhibition investment. Following Clarion Events' acquisition of EnergyNet in June, Reed Exhibitions has purchased 100 per cent of All-Energy from Media Generation Events. Media Generation Events is a joint venture between Media Generation Group, the original founders of All-Energy, and Qatar MICE Development Institute, which acquired 75 per cent of the exhibition in early 2009. Earlier this year, Reed acquired Multiplus, Brazil's leading organiser of biofuel events. This latest acquisition gives the company a strong foothold in the UK's alternative energy market while strengthening its global portfolio of energy events. Elsewhere, UBM acquired 70 per cent of Catersource in the US - a US$4m (£2.51m) turnover conference and exhibition business focused on the catering sector and held in Las Vegas. The deal included Event Solutions for the event planning sector, co-located with Catersource. It's a large event (10,000 delegates, 4,500 exhibitors) in a growing sector. The price paid was US$5m, which equates to 1.8x revenue so not overpriced. UBM also agreed (subject to the TUPE consulting period) to dispose of its UK entertainment and technology product portfolio. This is primarily a publishing deal consisting of Pro Sound News Europe, TVB Europe, Installation Europe and Music Week, which explains the lower price of £2.4m, equating to just 44 per cent of annual revenue. The purchaser is Intent Media, a trade publisher already in the interactive entertainment and games development sectors. I suspect we will see more non-core divestments of this type as event companies focus on the parts of their portfolio that deliver growth.Also in the US, exhibition services company Freeman has acquired Wheelhouse. Wheelhouse consists of three separate companies - Champion Exposition services, which will be folded into the existing Freeman company to broaden the range of offerings with its Eventrac technology suite for event planning; George Fern Company, also an exhibition and event services company; and Immersa Marketing, which specialises in experiential marketing.Unusually for US-based companies of this type, Freeman is planning international expansion by opening a UK office in London, giving the UK operators in this space food for thought. Wheelhouse CEO Bob Priest-Heck is an experienced trade show organiser in the IT sector originally with Ziff Davis who joined UBM in 2006 when it acquired Medialive (where he was CEO). Finally, I couldn't let this issue go by without congratulating Keith Harris from Quartz Group on picking up the Outstanding Contribution to the Industry Award at the AEO Awards. There isn't a more deserving person - over the years, Keith has consistently been the most entrepreneurial of all the UK exhibition organisers and in addition to Quartz has a stake in several up and coming players. However, he is more used to creating and selling rather than buying and still harangues me over VOS Media's purchase of the Ski, Vitality and Outdoor Shows, insisting he overpaid (although of course he didn't). - Steve Monnington is the MD of Mayfield Media Strategies. T