Clarion Kicks Off New Intimate Meeting Division With Acquisitions

By: Christiana Sciaudone

Clarion Events, a privately-owned events company, bought Eaton Hall, an event organizer specialized in face-to-face meetings, earlier this month as part of the launch of a new division.

Clarion Connect, which comprises Eaton Hall, Quartz Network and Events, Consero Events and Connexa, will focus on one-on-one connections in small, curated meetings, with over 80 events, summits, online networks and forums happening annually.

“One of our pillar focuses going forward… is really about showing the value of connections and continuing to deliver and over-deliver on the value of connections for our customers in all ways, connections between buyer and seller, between peer to peer connections, directly to content itself,” Kelly Comboni, who leads Clarion Connect, told AMO this week.

Such events are happening in the U.S. and Europe already and will expand globally in coming years. Clarion, which was acquired by Blackstone in 2017, is also looking to buy other kinds of events companies, especially those led by creative founders. In-person gatherings of all kinds continue to thrive post-Covid and as remote work remains a reality, even if some big tech companies are calling folks back to the office five days a week.

“Clarion is looking for founders always, so it doesn’t necessarily have to be the connections model, could be in the trade show model, it could be in some sort of new twist on connecting buyers and sellers together in some unique way,” Comboni said. “We are always eager to work with founders who are looking for their exit or infusion of investment to take it to the next level.”

Clarion itself is reportedly up for sale with Reuters reporting in August that owner Blackstone is exploring options for the company, which could value it at up to 2 billion pounds ($2.6 billion). Clarion Events in the UK declined to comment on the deal.

Deals, Deals, Deals

Clarion has grown through M&A and organically over the past decades, and its deals team is still hard at work. Besides the Eaton Hall acquisition, Clarion announced the acquisition of Information Forecast, or Infocast, a renewable energy sector business, in late October.

“We have a dedicated team for M&A right now, and they are sharp, and they’re open, and they’re looking at lots of opportunities constantly, they’re really quite busy,” Comboni said. Events “are back stronger than ever, and with a renewed focus on creating these unique experiences that drive results.

What are they looking for? Scale, natural add-ons to existing holdings or, if in a news sector, those that can stand alone. 

“If it’s a new sector for us, we’re looking for events that are kind of like the taste maker of whatever industry it’s in,” Comboni said. 

Acquisitions are important to Clarion because the targets have already lived through the early risk years and very difficult initial launches. It’s also a way to add proven talent to the Clarion roster.

“We are willing to pay a little bit more of a premium to get something that is established and already has gotten to a certain scalable size, because it also gives us that speed to size,” Comboni said. 

Scott Goldman, founder of Eaton Hall, will continue in the role of chairman of the business Clarion see this as a complement to its big trade shows, giving it a more nimble way of producing events.

“They are faster to market in a life cycle than a traditional trade show, they can be more niche,” Comboni said. “This is not about, oh, we do have 10,000 people walking in the halls. This is about 60 of the right people coming together for those two days, 60 people who are in a buying cycle right now.” 

It becomes a more efficient way to do business for both sides, Comboni said. There is a lot of pre-event AI work done, including setting up buyers with sellers ahead of time and offering more personalized customer service.   

“If a solution provider can leave one of our events with one to two deals that look likely to close, that’s a win. That’s a solid win, especially for the size of deals that our customers generally sell,” at a minimum of $20,000, Comboni said. “That’s where we’re putting a lot of our focus right now as a business is on the value of connections and the delivering of connections.”