US meetings space provider Convene acquires UK’s etc.venues

Convene has become the largest single provider of premium meeting and event venues in the UK and US with the acquisition of etc.venues, a UK leader in urban day conferencing with venues across the UK and in New York City. The acquisition will add 16 new locations to Convene’s portfolio. Convene values the combined entities at $800m.The Financial Times has reported that the deal for etc.venues was in the region of £200m. Convene’s existing investors are participating in the financing for this acquisition, including the Hudson’s Bay Company, Ares Management Corporation, RXR, Revolution Capital, and Gencom. Hudson’s Bay Company, which owns Saks, took a majority stake for $500m in April 2022. “The London and New York City markets continue to rebound at a tremendous pace post-Covid with demand for outsourced premium meeting and event solutions accelerating from clients and landlords alike,” said Ryan Simonetti, CEO and co-founder of Convene. “The talented team at etc.venues led by Alastair Stewart, managing director, and Nick Hoare, chief operating officer, has built an incredible business across the UK and New York for over 30 years; the acquisition of an organisation with such an unwavering commitment to delivering high-quality meeting and event experiences allows Convene to expand our ability to serve our clients in more places and exciting new ways,” he added. Convene said the addition of etc.venues quickly expands the size of its portfolio and team across the US and UK affording the business to strategically benefit from economies of scale and further operating efficiencies. “The workplace of the future is a meeting space,” said Simonetti. “While individual work can be done anywhere, Convene provides purpose-built meeting and social event spaces with the tools and amenities aimed at inspiring collaboration that are needed for high-impact, team-based work. We are proud to further this offering with the addition of etc.venues to our global network.” Founded in 1992, etc.venues is a leading provider of events, training, and conference venues with a 450,000-square-foot real estate portfolio spanning 13 UK locations and three New York City outposts. In 2019, the company served over 3,100 clients and more than one million delegates across 19,000 events. “etc.venues is the largest urban day-conference venue provider in the UK with an incredible client base comprising a number of Fortune 500 companies,” said Alastair Stewart. “As we set our sights on expansion into the US, we realised the natural synergy and alignment with Convene and are really looking forward to what’s next as our two world-class firms join forces.” This acquisition comes on the heels of Convene joining forces with SaksWorks in 2022, and announcing its new San Francisco location opening later this year. Convene now has a network of 38 premium meetings, events, and flexible office locations across the US and UK. “Convene and etc.venues are two distinct and established leaders in the meetings and events industry, bringing them together creates an unparalleled global offering,” said Richard Baker, governor, CEO, and executive chairman of Hudson’s Bay Company, Convene’s majority shareholder. “We are confident this newly-combined organisation will benefit clients, landlords, and shareholders alike, especially as we set our sights on further international expansion opportunities.”