By Lauren Thomas
Apollo Global Management struck deals for two different live-events businesses as part of a plan to create a platform for in-person gatherings.
The firm said Monday it was set to buy publicly traded Emerald Holding and privately held Questex, with plans to combine the two companies.
The details
The announcement from Apollo confirmed an earlier report by The Wall Street Journal.
Under the terms of the deal with Emerald, shareholders are expected to receive $5.03 in cash per share, valuing the company at roughly $1 billion. Emerald stock closed Friday at $4.57.
Onex, the investment firm that is Emerald's largest shareholder, has pledged to support the deal, Apollo said.
Apollo also agreed to buy Questex from its current owner, private-equity firm MidOcean Partners. The price of the all-cash deal isn't being disclosed but is considerably smaller than the Emerald transaction, according to people familiar with the matter.
Emerald is an event organizer based in New York. It helps put on trade shows and conferences around the country, including the outdoor sports show Outdoor Retailer. It also helps companies with e-commerce operations. Emerald said in December that it was reviewing strategic alternatives after receiving takeover interest from multiple parties.
Questex is another B2B, or business-to-business, events company that targets industries including beauty and wellness, travel and hospitality, and healthcare and life sciences. It organizes trade shows and helps create digital content for companies including Fierce Pharma and Fierce Biotech.
The context
The rise of artificial intelligence is changing how people connect online, and some believe in-person gatherings will become more valuable as a result. Live events screeched to a halt during the Covid-19 pandemic but bounced back coming out of it.
The B2B live-events sector remains fragmented, presenting an opportunity for private-equity firms or other would-be consolidators.
Emerald in recent years has focused on expanding to industries beyond retail, where it had been focused before the pandemic. It shed a number of unprofitable events and struck a series of deals targeting more profitable categories.
Apollo is no stranger to owning experience-focused businesses, such as the Venetian Resort Las Vegas, but this would mark its first foray into live events. The firm said it plans to pursue more such deals in the future to add to this new platform.
Apollo in 2024 announced a similar deal where it would acquire two companies and combine them, in this case Everi Holdings and the gambling and slot-machine business of International Game Technology. Earlier this year, Apollo struck a $3.7 billion deal for Japan's Nippon Sheet Glass and completed its sale of Yahoo's AOL to Bending Spoons.
Write to Lauren Thomas at lauren.thomas@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
May 11, 2026 06:50 ET (10:50 GMT)
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