Maritz Travel Company today announced the acquisition of event management firm Experient.
Under the terms of the deal, Experient will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Maritz Travel. “As of tomorrow, the employees and clients will really feel no impact from this,” says David Peckinpaugh, president of Maritz Travel. “Over time we’ll work out the best practice solutions across the businesses as best as we can, but this is really about honoring and maintaining Experient as our trade show and government brand, and Maritz Travel as our corporate brand.”
That said, the acquisition provides Maritz and Experient even more clout as a buyer in the hospitality industry. “By combining, we will expand the capabilities we bring to clients beyond what either of us might offer independently,” Peckinpaugh says. “As a result of this deal, Maritz Travel will lead the industry in four key areas: Corporate, association, tradeshow, and strategic meetings management. By combining, we will expand the capabilities we bring to clients beyond what either of us might offer independently.”
Experient will now do business as Experient: A Maritz Travel Company.
The two companies now have a combined 1,363 employees, and in 2011 together managed, sourced, or contracted six million rooms at more than 11,500 meetings and events they booked, for a total of $2 billion in spending. Experient CEO Jeff Price is stepping down, but otherwise Experient’s leadership will remain the same, reporting directly to Peckinpaugh.
SUBHED: Why Buy?
Peckinpaugh says the decision to acquire Experient has its roots in an extensive strategic planning review that he initiated when he took over as president last June.
“That resulted in a clear strategy for the company,” Peckinpaugh says. “We identified in particular the need for our company to move into adjacent markets. If you look at the strength of Experient, you’ll see that the majority of its business is in the association and trade show space. We don’t have any business in those markets, and we really saw that as a great opportunity for us to expand the business. This is a growth play and a combination of two market leaders that puts us in pretty unique territory: Being the event leader in the corporate-association-trade show-strategic meeting management markets, and also comes along with a proven and profitable government solution as well.”
In addition, the acquisition of Experient provides Maritz Travel with a degree of financial stability when the economy impacts the meetings business, Peckinpaugh says.
“The association market is insulated from the peaks and valleys of the economy,” he says. “Association [events] are very consistently held, there were very few cancellations. If you look at what happened in our industry starting in 2008, it is no secret that there was a huge impact on corporate events, and a heavy impact on the incentive market. I think we can weather any future storms in a much better state than we could prior to this acquisition.”
That said, the focus of the acquisition is solidly on the future, Peckinpaugh says. “Experient is in a great state, growing both the event management and the event registration and housing sides of their business in a great way. Their growth path mirrors ours, and we’re very bullish about the next several years.”
Maritz Travel’s existing business has “come back with a roar,” Peckinpaugh adds. “We’re in a very positive growth mode and we’ve come out of those days in a very healthy state. We see a huge opportunity in the incentive market. It’s a huge part of our business, and always will be. We don’t see that diminishing. We are really focused on growth. That will be our mantra moving forward, with a heavy focus on our clients.”