Leading Exhibition Companies of the World
In the last edition of the ExhibitionPilot, published by Kresse Media & Exhibitions Publications, we published a list of exhibition companies worldwide, having a turnover of more than €100 million.
Enjoying positive reactions, the ExhibitionPilot decided to continuously inform about the turnover related ranking of the players in the exhibition & events industry in the future.
Pico also part of the ranking
Due to the feedback on our first publication, we added one more company to the list, which is Pico Far East Holdings (see “The exhibition industry – a total brand activation business?”). The company's profile is similar to the one of GL events; its turnover in 2010 amounted to around €296 m, ranking it on no. 8, in front of MCH (€294.4 m) (see "15 exhibition companies worldwide exceeding €200 m turnover ").
First results for 2011: UBM and Messe Frankfurt enjoying record sales
Out of the largest four exhibition companies worldwide (Reed, GL events, UBM and Messe Frankfurt), the German exhibition group was the first to publish preliminary sales figures for 2011. Wolfgang Marzin, CEO of Messe Frankfurt announced that the group's sales will amount to around €457 m in the running year, the highest ever result in the company's history.
28 per cent of Messe Frankfurt's overall sales (€128.3 m) result from business abroad. For 2012 Marzin is expecting the group to exceed the barrier of €500 m for the first time.
According to analysts, the event revenues of UBM for 2011 are estimated at around €470 m. The group has been very acquisitive especially during the last two years. In 2010 alone, 22 businesses have been acquired world wide, among them Canon Communications LLC. For 2011, the acquisition pace has been reduced a little. For 2012 UBM's turnover is expected to rise at more than €503 m. Thus there is a neck-and-neck race between Messe Frankfurt and UBM for the no. 3 position in the exhibition world.
Reed and GL events in the range between €770 - €790 m turnover for 2011
Should Reed continue its first half year trend (-3 per cent) and GL events consolidate the gains of the first nine months (around +8 per cent), there will not be much of a gap between these two giants for their 2011 results, likely to end up between €770 - €790 m.
It is to be foreseen that come critical voices might say: Don't compare apples and oranges: Reed and UBM are pure exhibition organisers whereas GL events and Messe Frankfurt practice business models incorporating venue management and event related services. But, these groups are all active within the exhibition and events industry. In a liberal market economy, everyone is free to choose his own ballpark.
