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Nielsen Expositions to Be Acquired

Trade show organizer Nielsen Expositions in San Juan Capistrano has agreed to be acquired by Toronto-based private equity firm Onex Corp. for $950 million.

Nielsen Expositions is part of Diemen, Netherlands-based information and analytics company Nielsen Holdings N.V. The parent companyโ€™s operations include measurements of television ratings and consumer spending patterns.

Nielsen Expositions, which has about 240 employees across four offices nationwide, organizes more than 65 business-to-business trade shows and conference events in the U.S. each year. The segment had about $183 million in revenue last year, accounting for about 3% of the parent companyโ€™s total revenue.

โ€œThe expo part of the company is a relatively small segment,โ€ said Brian West, Nielsenโ€™s chief financial officer, during a conference call Monday morning. โ€œWeโ€™ve always said … that the Expositions [segment], while we loved it, was noncore โ€ฆ [and] if the opportunity presents itself [to sell], we would take a hard look at it, and we did.โ€

The all-cash, tax-free transaction is expected to close this quarter.

West said Nielsen plans to use the proceeds for its pending acquisition of Arbitron Inc., a Columbia, Md.-based radio ratings company. The $1.26 billion deal was announced in December.

Nielsen Expositions President David Loechner said the company is counting on Onexโ€™ expertise in โ€œcorporate carve-outs.โ€

Onex, which has about $4.7 billion in assets, until recently has held a 50% ownership stake in Anaheim-based RSI Home Products Inc., a cabinet manufacturer under RSI Holding LLC in Newport Beach.

RSI Holdingโ€™s founder and chairman, Ron Simon, bought out the private equity partner in February, paying $323 million to gain full ownership of the cabinetmaker.

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