M&Awww.exhibition-world.net Issue 2 | 201213he pace of acquisitions across the global exhibition industry shows no sign of letting up, with 18 deals announced in the last quarter. Turkey is the busiest country in terms of international business development activity and March brought a spate of announcements involving international players strengthening their existing positions and one major organiser entering that market.Tarsus Group has now consolidated its market position with the acquisition of 70 per cent of Life Media, organisers of Zuchex and Ideal Home, the market leading trade shows for housewares and gifts. In terms of organising companies, the structure of the Turkish exhibition sector comprises the organising arms of the two main venues CNR and Tuyap, followed by four medium-sized organisers - IFO, Life Media, YEM (which sold 60 per cent of its business to ITE last year) and NTSR (who also features in this quarter's news). The acquisition of two of these main players makes Tarsus the third-largest international organiser in Turkey after ITE and Hannover Messe International (HMI).UBM's entry into Turkey came in 2010 when the company acquired 65 per cent of Rotaforte, the market-leading jewellery show brand. The business is managed by UBM Asia as a standalone company, so it was only a matter of time before a wider business was established. Now UBM Turkey has been created together with a strategic partnership with NTSR to manage the new business. The development of the new company will include replication of UBM's existing brands into Turkey. HMI has also been active, buying out the remaining shares from two of its joint ventures. The company will acquire the remaining 50 per cent of Sodeks, organiser of ISK-Sodeks, the largest trade show in Turkey serving the heating, ventilation and air-conditioning markets, as well as the remaining interest in Cebit Bilesim Eurasia, Turkey's leading ICT trade show. Just as it looked as if Reed had missed out on one of the fast growth markets, the company surprised us all by signing a 50/50 joint venture agreement with Tuyap Holdings, operator of a number of exhibition centres across Turkey including the second-largest venue in Istanbul after CNR. The JV is with the exhibition division of Tuyap and initially involves three shows, but it appears this is just the beginning. The plan is to extend the JV to cover the rest of Tuyap's shows. With the prime businesses in Turkey now all in partnership, attention should switch to Asia. Although several of the major organisers have been long established in that region, expect to see moves into the Asian market by a number of other organisers over coming months. DEALMAKERSMAYFIELD MEDIA STRATEGIES MD STEVE MONNINGTON INVESTIGATES THE LATEST M&A ACTIVITY AND FINDS EVENT ORGANISERS ARE RAMPING UP THEIR SPENDINGSTEVE MONNINGTONMD, MAYFIELD MEDIA STRATEGIESACQUISITIONS THIS QUARTERBuyerSellerCountryShows/BusinessCentaurEvent and Exhibiting ShowUKEvent PlanningGlobal SourcesChina Int'l Brand ClothingChinaFashionMedia 10 EcoVelocityUKMotorReedBook Blogger Convention USABooksReedEquip'hotel Brazil HospitalityReedExpo SeguridadMexicoSecurityReedAll-Energy AustraliaAustraliaEnergyReedOnline Retailer Conference/ E-Commerce ExpoAustraliaTechnologyUBM4G WorldUSATelecomsUBMDentechChinaDentistryUBMInsight MediaUSAAirport CitiesUBMMalaysia Int'l Furniture FairMalaysiaFurnitureREED SURPRISEDUS ALL BY SIGNING A 50/50 VENTURE WITH TUYAP