AMR International has released its second 'Top 20 exhibition organisers', the only ranking by 2016 exhibition organising revenue. It also includes the first half (H1) of 2017 M&A activity.
The top four rankings remain unchanged since the previous 'AMR Top 20' was issued in December last year.
Reed Exhibitions stays number one with approximately $1.45bn revenue, followed by UBM, Informa and Messe Frankfurt.
Denzil Rankine, executive chairman, AMR International said: “Within the top four organisers, Reed Exhibitions and Messe Frankfurt have focused on organic growth and international expansion through geo-clones, while last year UBM and Informa cemented their positions through the acquisitions of Allworld and Penton.”
The most significant shifts reported in the 'AMR Top 20' have been by Messe Dusseldorf and Messe Munich. Both are having a strong year with major biennial, triennial and quadrennial events driving their record sales.
Messe Dusseldorf moved to 5th position up from 10th in 2016, and Messe Munich leaped to 6th position, up from 17th in 2016.
Rankine added: “Apart from Informa’s acquisition of the portfolio of Yachting Promotions Inc. and the tech-focused events acquired by Emerald, the first half of 2017 has not seen any sizeable M&A activity. Nevertheless, the trend to consolidation remains, as significant gains through organic growth continue to be challenging. And, while Clarion remained relatively unchanged, its new owner Blackstone is in a position to fuel further M&A activity, which could impact its ranking in 2018.”
The AMR Top 20 is released every six months, and is intended for exhibition organisers to easily see how they rank in the global events market. It aims to help organisers track any shifts in market share, particularly ahead of the financial reporting cycle.
The ranking presents an alternative view of the industry, isolating exhibition organiser revenues from venue rental and service revenues. Organisers are ranked on the latest fully reported year combined with pro-forma revenues of acquisitions.
The next 'AMR Top 20' is due for release in January 2018.
Meanwhile, more in-depth analysis on the global exhibitions industry will be available from 1 September when AMR releases the 9th edition of Globex: the global exhibitions organising market: assessment and forecast to 2021.
