The owner of trade show Pure London, Ascential, announced today that it is planning to sell its exhibitions business to ITE Group for £300m. ITE Group already owns the Moda and Scoop exhibitions, and the addition of Pure London to its portfolio will give the company control of the UK’s most important trade shows.
The sale of Ascential exhibitions business to ITE Group will allow its brands to “prosper under the ownership of a specialised exhibition organiser,” said Ascential in a statement. Following the sale, Ascential will continue to invest in its core businesses which include global trend forecasting service WGSN, e-commerce analytics providers One Click Retail and environmental risk data business Groundsure.
“The strategic review of the Exhibitions business was undertaken to ensure that we prioritize our time and capital on enabling our customers to succeed in the digital economy,” said Duncan Painter, Chief Executive Officer of Ascential. “We are therefore pleased to have found a good home and achieved a fair price for the Exhibitions business. Winning in the digital economy is one of the biggest challenges our customers face and we want to ensure we are at the forefront of helping them achieve this.”
