• Apollo is paying $5.03 per share in cash to Emerald shareholders, implying an enterprise value of about $1.5 billion.
• Details about the Questex purchase were not disclosed.
• The acquisitions are expected to be completed by the second half of the year.

Asset manager Apollo Global Management, Inc. (APO) on Monday announced the cash acquisitions of publicly traded Emerald Holding, Inc. (EEX) and privately held Questex, LLC, with a goal of combining them into a single entity to serve the corporate events-organizing industry.

Apollo anticipates the combined entity to be well-positioned to drive organic growth and capture a significant share of North America’s B2B events market.

EEX stock was up nearly 13% in premarket trading, while APO was down marginally at the time of writing.

Zooming In On The Deal

To take Emerald private, Apollo is paying $5.03 per share in cash for every EEX share owned, which equates to an enterprise value of about $1.5 billion. Canada’s Onex Corporation, which owns over 90% of the outstanding shares of Emerald, has agreed to vote in favor of the transaction.

Apollo did not disclose the financial details of the Questex acquisition.

Once acquired, the two companies will merge to become a platform with about 160 events across complementary end markets, leveraging Emerald’s category-leading exhibitions with Questex’s differentiated events portfolio and 365-day digital engagement model.

“We believe the combined business will benefit from the strength of both organizations’ teams, differentiated content, deep customer relationships, and proven 365-day engagement model, giving the platform a distinct ability to serve its communities year-round and drive sustained growth,” said Shahid Bosan, Managing Director at Apollo.

The acquisitions are expected to be completed by the second half of the year.

What Retail Traders Think Of EEX And APO Stocks

On Stocktwits, retail sentiment about EEX remained ‘bullish’ and ‘neutral’ on APO over the last 24 hours.

Both stocks have underperformed the benchmark S&P index so far this year and over the past 12 months.

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