UBM The board reckons UBM is still a work in progress, but it is looking like the finished article. Last year was significant, bracketed at each end by big acquisitions in the exhibitions industry, Advantstar in the US and the Asian-focused Allworld Exhibitions announced in December.
In between was the long-awaited disposal of PR Newswire, bringing in £490 million and allowing a 58p special dividend. There was plenty taking place around the fringes. Various publishing and data operations were sold, along with one exhibition, Ecobuild in Earls Court, that went to management for a song.
Four events were bought, the two that took place in 2016 achieving a near-10 per cent rate of return — the biennial nature of some exhibitions makes unpicking the numbers