The partnership with Inflexion is accelerating Easyfairs’ proven international growth model without compromising the communities at the heart of the business – and there are already impressive results.
Easyfairs was already one of the world’s top 20 event organisers, having built more than 100 shows organically by launching a combination of regional and national events and embedding them within the industries they serve, when the founder-run business considered inviting a minority investor into its shareholding.
Bringing on private equity was about extending Easyfairs’ clearly successful model — particularly through acquisitions that could be executed more swiftly, at greater scale, and in new geographies.
“We were a well-oiled machine but felt the time was right to take on external backing to go even faster. It’s been a great first 18 months and we’re enjoying this new journey very much,” says Co-CEO Matt Benyon, who shares the role with Anne Lafère.
Following Inflexion Partnership Capital’s investment alongside Belgian investor Cobepa and founder Eric Everard, Easyfairs completed five acquisitions in its first financial year, exceeding its internal acquisition EBITDA targets and putting the business ahead of plan. These transactions have been deliberately balanced: smaller bolt-ons that deepen existing clusters, alongside more strategic transactions that open up new verticals or geographies.
Acquisitions following the investment included Nordic Organic Food Fair in Sweden, GameForce within its Heroes portfolio in Belgium, EPHJ — the world’s largest precision engineering event in Geneva — and UK Metals Expo. Together, they strengthen Easyfairs’ presence across manufacturing, food, engineering and consumer-facing events.
Full-throttle
Some of the latest acquisitions have gone further still. The purchase of Digital Accountancy Show will see the flagship London event benefit from Easyfairs’ pan-European network as the two businesses share a focus on technology and digital innovation. CHEMUK illustrates how Easyfairs deploys its value-creation playbook post-acquisition, enhancing content, commercial reach and operational infrastructure. Meanwhile, the acquisition of EPC (Energy Projects Conference & Exhibition) in Houston, Texas marks Easyfairs’ first US acquisition and is a strategic anchor in the North American market, complementing the successful launch of Coiltech North America — already the largest launch in the Easyfairs’ history.
Easyfairs pursued a buy-and-build strategy in the US as a resilient route amid ongoing uncertainty, allowing the business to build presence incrementally while staying flexible.
Inflexion’s role has been to help Easyfairs move faster without losing discipline. The firm brings experience from scaling CloserStill Media internationally – eight acquisitions helped boost international revenues 6x during the partnership – and this provides a valuable framework for assessing acquisitions, integration risk and value creation potential.
Inflexion are very quick to make decisions and they’ve brought the modelling aspect to the table. They’ve really brought sense to what we could do and how we could add value — even when purchasing at higher multiples.
Matt describes the partnership as collaborative rather than directive. “They explained to us they are hands-with rather than hands-on— ‘we are here when you need us but will not micromanage’. This has absolutely been the case.”
Easyfairs is also working with Inflexion’s commercial team to evaluate and enhance the company’s value proposition, with Inflexion’s sustainability team are helping to progress Easyfairs’ efforts around this area.
Technology — particularly data and AI — is increasingly embedded in Easyfairs’ acquisition and expansion strategy. As an example, the business uses AI to analyse post-event feedback, collating large amounts of qualitative data into useful insights. On the commercial side, AI supports market analysis, helping teams understand emerging sectors, prospective audiences and launch potential far more efficiently than traditional desktop research.
“There’s no doubt that data and AI are increasingly crucial,” Matt says. “We use it throughout the entire company on a day-to-day basis — including when we’re researching new launches, which saves us a huge amount of time.”
This capability is particularly valuable when entering new markets, reducing research time and enabling more informed decisions.
Integration as a two-way street
As acquisition activity accelerates, Easyfairs places strong emphasis on thoughtful integration. The approach is to preserve what made the acquired business successful in the first place, while offering access to Easyfairs’ technology, international reach and operational support.
When we make an acquisition, there’s an immediate two-way street. What can we learn from you, and what can you learn from us? We bought you because your magic ingredients are gold dust.
Entrepreneurial flair and autonomy are protected wherever possible. Acquired teams are encouraged to keep building their communities, contributing ideas back into the wider group rather than being constrained by centralised templates.
With further European acquisitions under review and a growing pipeline of US opportunities, Easyfairs’ M&A engine is fully engaged. Easyfairs expects to have doubled in size since the investment from Inflexion, with a significant US footprint representing around 15% of EBITDA. Europe remains a core focus, particularly France, Germany, Italy and the UK, supported by continued innovation in data, technology and community engagement.
The partnership demonstrates how disciplined capital, sector expertise and technology can accelerate growth — without diluting culture. As Matt puts it, success ultimately comes back to purpose: “We will still be delivering events for the communities we serve.”
Each Inflexion investment, regardless of size or stake, has full access to Inflexion’s value acceleration support which includes M&A. In 2025 alone Inflexion supported its sizeable portfolio to make over 75 acquisitions in 15 countries representing a combined enterprise value of over €1 billion.
acquisitions in the first year post investment
