Trillium Partners Limited (Trillium), the independent corporate finance advisory firm, is pleased to announce that it has advised Inflexion Private Equity Partners LLP (Inflexion), a leading mid-market private equity house, on its minority investment in CloserStill Group Limited (CloserStill), the UK’s fastest growing international exhibition business (the Transaction).

CloserStill was founded in 2008 and organises exhibitions throughout the UK, Europe and the Far East, focused on the multi-billion pound healthcare and technology sectors. Since its founding, CloserStill has established a leading position in the events space by providing world-class, professional content and attracting large, high value audiences. Events organised by CloserStill include the London Vet Show, The Pharmacy Show and the Cloud Expo shows.

Since 2008, the management team has delivered outstanding growth, significantly ahead of its peers, through a combination of new event launches, strategic acquisitions and continued organic growth of existing events. Inflexion’s investment will support further organic growth of CloserStill’s relatively young events portfolio, capitalising on excellent renewal rates and high demand. It will also enable continued innovation through ‘geo-cloning’ successful events in other markets and facilitate targeted acquisitions.

Trillium advised Inflexion on various aspects of the Transaction. In particular, Trillium: (1) advised on the macro trends in the events sector with reference to key market data and intelligence; (2) advised on the valuation parameters of the Transaction and various structuring options; (3) provided continuous analytical support to the Inflexion investment team on its preparation of the investment thesis; (4) evaluated exit options, including identifying buyers following Inflexion’s potential investment period; and (5) assisted with the coordination of the transaction process, which contributed to a successful outcome in a highly competitive and relatively short process.  

Christian Hamilton, Investment Director at Inflexion, commented:
“Trillium had unique and deep knowledge of the event and exhibitions industry. The quality of the output and advice was faultless and the partner-led approach meant that we always had value added to our decisions.”

Stephen Routledge, Managing Director at Trillium, added:
“CloserStill is an exceptional events business and is a highly attractive addition to Inflexion’s investment portfolio. We were extremely pleased to have advised Inflexion. This transaction also adds to Trillium’s long track record of providing corporate finance advice in relation to international exhibition and events businesses.”

About Trillium Partners
Trillium Partners is an independent mid-market firm that advises listed companies, private firms and financial sponsors on M&A and Private Capital raising transactions valued at £20 million to £500 million in the B2B Information Services and Events, Consumer Media, Learning and Development, and Marketing Services.

Over the last 30 years, we have advised our clients on a comprehensive array of transactions in the UK, Europe, USA and Asia, with an aggregate value in excess of £10 billion. Underpinned by deep sector knowledge and insight, our expertise extends from private acquisitions and disposals to public offers and raising capital from the private equity, family office, banking and alternative finance communities for working capital, business development, acquisitions and buy-outs.

For more information regarding this transaction, please contact Stephen Routledge or Philip Mastriforte on +44 (0)20 3008 8375