Canadian private equity firm buys Interbike

Onex Corporation is to acquire Nielsen Expositions for $950m. Nielsen Expositions, part of Nielsen Holdings, owns trade shows, such as Interbike and 64 other business to business exhibitions.

For the year ended December 31, 2012, Nielsen Expositions generated revenues of approximately $183m.

David Loechner, president of Nielsen Expositions said “Onex has experience and a successful track record of executing similar corporate carve-outs and building those divisions into industry-leading businesses."

Onex managing director Kosty Gilis said:

“Nielsen Expositions’ strength in the U.S. business-to-business tradeshow industry is evidenced by its high renewal rates, long-standing exhibitor relationships, and the brand strength of the underlying shows."

Brian West, chief financial officer of Nielsen, said:

“Divesting the Expositions business allows us to focus on core areas that provide our clients with a comprehensive understanding of consumers while providing more flexibility to return capital to our shareholders over time. Our Expositions leadership team has built a world-class business with successful and respected brands. We believe under Onex’ ownership, a great business will achieve even greater success.”

Onex has offices in Toronto, New York and London.