Hyve eyes £100m revenue

Hyve Group is eyeing annual revenues of up to £100m ahead of its takeover by a Us private equity group.

The London- based events organiser, which earlier this month agreed to a £481m takeover by Providence, said it is on course to bring in revenues of between £95m and £100m in the year to the end of March.

Although management anticipates ‘some impact’ from the ongoing banking turmoil, hitting attendance at its banking and tech events such as Fintech Meetup and shoptalk, momentum remains strong, it said.

Hyve, whose exhibitions also include Africa Oil Week, Mining Indaba and spring Fair, has held its first events in China since the start of the pandemic.

Chief executive Mark shashoua said the group started 2023 ‘with purpose and momentum’.

Forward bookings were £145m as of March 2022, the firm said, ahead of £102m in the same period last year.

Hyve, formerly International Trade exhibitions, was founded in 1991 by the shashoua family, who were looking to capitalise on former soviet Union states transitioning to market economies. Almost all its exhibitions take place across advanced economies after it sold some global operations over the last year.

Hyve shares have failed to recover since the £900bn events industry was brought to a halt at the start of the pandemic.

This was worsened by the war in Ukraine and Hyve’s decision to dump its Russian business in response. but the news of Providence’s acquisition spells danger for the London market.

Takeover interest in UK firms picked up during Covid as bidders looked to take advantage of depressed price tags.