UK trade exhibitions specialist ITE Group Plc (LON:ITE) said on Tuesday it had bought a 28.3% stake in Asian Business Exhibitions & Conferences Ltd (ABEC) of India from Qatar-based investment bank QInvest LLC for INR1.23bn (USD22.5m/EUR17.2m) in cash.
The transaction is being carried out by ITE’s wholly-owned unit Airgate Holdings Ltd. The buyer will be funding the acquisition from its existing cash resources and agreed debt facilities. It noted it had received an option to raise its interest in the future.
ITE expects the stake purchase to be neutral to earnings for the fiscal year to 30 September 2013.
ABEC is India’s largest private exhibition organiser with its 8% market share. The business runs 19 exhibitions throughout 11 vertical markets such as construction, architecture, design, education, lifestyle, real estate as well as oil and gas.
For the fiscal year to 31 March 2012, ABEC registered profits of INR140m and revenues of INR1.1bn. Its gross assets amounted to INR1.7bn at closing.
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