Nielsen Expositions has been renamed Emerald Expositions, Inc. by Onex Corporation, the Canadian private equity fund that last week acquired the company for $950 million in cash from Nielsen Holdings N.V.
Approximately $350 million of the cash was provided by Onex Partners III, a $4.7 billion private equity fund. Onex provided a limited partner stake of $85 million.
David Loechner, who ran the business for Nielsen, has been named CEO of Emerald Expositions, which remains headquartered in San Juan Capistrano, CA. The company, which owns the Health + Fitness Expo, Imprint Sportswear Show, Interbike and Outdoor Retailer, is one of the nation's largest operators of business-to-business trade shows.
Based in Toronto, Onex has $16 billion in assets under management, including $5 billion of proprietary capital.
“We’re excited to work with David and his management team to grow the company through both continued expansion of its existing shows and add-on acquisition opportunities,” said Kosty Gilis, an Onex managing director.
