Naylor Acquires Convention Management Group
Thursday, 25 January 2007
Naylor, LLC, the leading provider of business-to-business communications solutions for trade and professional associations in North America and a portfolio company of Clarity Partners and ZelnickMedia, has acquired Convention Management Group, Inc. (CMG), a Fairfax, VA-based full-service event management company. Like Naylor, CMG focuses exclusively on serving trade and professional associations, and the acquisition will add turn-key event management capabilities to Naylor’s full slate of print and online media services and solutions.
The Jordan, Edmiston Group, Inc. (JEGI), the New York-based investment banking firm that specializes in media and information, represented CMG in this transaction and acted as its exclusive financial advisor. In August 2005, JEGI also represented Naylor in its sale to Clarity Partners and ZelnickMedia.
“Acquiring a respected convention management company and adding a Washington, DC-area office is a natural and exciting addition for Naylor as we continue to expand our business and capabilities,” said Alex DeBarr, president and CEO of Naylor. “By adding CMG’s event management services, Naylor is now able to offer our association partners completely integrated media solutions in print, online and in person.”
Founded in 1990, CMG produces conventions and trade shows on behalf of leading organizations representing a broad spectrum of industries from transportation and manufacturing to food processing and commercial construction. CMG excels in positioning conventions and expositions as premier events in the industries they serve, ranging in size from 1,000 to 27,000 attendees and 30,000 to 480,000 net square feet of exhibits.
CMG currently manages eight events in the US, offering turn-key event management services including the development of long-range strategic and marketing plans, creating and managing budgets, negotiating leases, coordinating and managing vendors and subcontractors, promoting and selling exhibit space, promoting attendance, providing service programs, and managing all on-site operations.
Among CMG’s current portfolio of managed events are two current Trade Show Week Top 200 events – the American Meat Institute’s International Meat, Poultry and Seafood Expo and the International Dairy Foods Association’s Food, Dairy and Beverage Show. CMG also manages the American Beverage Association’s InterBev event, the United Motorcoach Association’s Motorcoach Expo, the Construction Specification Institute’s CSI Show, three specialized events sponsored by the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture, and several other ancillary events.
“We are proud to become a part of the leading media partner for associations in North America,” said Mike Muldoon, President of CMG. “Naylor has outstanding relationships with hundreds of associations, and it’s clear they share our core values of providing consistent and always improving services to our association partners, exhibitors and attendees.”
Muldoon, who has spent most of his 27-year career operating events on staff for several international associations before launching CMG, will join Naylor as executive vice president of Naylor’s Convention Management Group.
Muldoon sees the fit between Naylor and CMG as ideal for his customers and Naylor’s. “Naylor’s powerful sales and marketing capability and wide array of print and electronic media services will allow us to provide more and better services to our current customers, and we are already exploring opportunities to provide our event management services to any of Naylor’s current or future association partners who need it.”
Added DeBarr, “Our goal at Naylor continues to be to build image and increase non-dues revenue for our association partners by providing the finest quality media products and services. Mike Muldoon has an excellent reputation as an event management practitioner, and we are very pleased that he and his full team are joining us.”
All of CMG’s 15 employees will join Naylor and remain based in their current Fairfax, VA offices