Artexis-SMG is a 50-50 partnership between Artexis, a Belgium-based convention center management and event production company, and SMG. (Note: VT-created image)
Although SMG-Europe already has a strong presence, with 13 sport and entertainment facilities on the continent, the venue management company had yet to break into convention center management in the area. With the recently-announced partnership with Artexis, that is poised to change.
“Obviously they are two completely different industries and, as huge as we are in the convention and exhibition world in the West, we would still be starting from scratch in Europe,” said Gregg Caren, executive VP of SMG’s convention center division, who added that the company has considered expanding into Europe for several years. “Partnering with someone who not only has experience in that space but also as a content provider is a huge benefit.”
So who is Artexis? The company, which has entered into a straight 50-50 partnership with SMG for the new venue management venture, Artexis-SMG, is one of the Belgian market leaders in conference center management and the organization of trade fairs with Artexis easyFairs. They currently operate five facilities in Belgium including Antwerp Expo, Flanders Expo, Namur Expo, Namur Palais des Congrès, and MICX and, as Artexis Nordic, manage Kistamässan in Stockholm and Malmömässan.
Joining with a convention center management behemoth such as SMG will allow Artexis to further expand its reach from an operations side.
“SMG is the world’s leading company in venue management, with a portfolio of 74 exhibition and convention centers. It sets the ‘gold standard’ in public facility management and I am delighted that we will be working together,” said Artexis easyFairs CEO Eric Everard in a release. “Here in Europe, there is strong demand from public and private owners of congress, convention and exhibitions centers for specialist expertise to maximize revenue streams and to help them host top quality events.”
“The combination of locally based Artexis-SMG personnel, with their deep knowledge of European markets, and SMG processes and best practices, will deliver exceptional added value to our customers,” he added.
Artexis-SMG VP Business Development Håkan Gershagen said that SMG reached out to Artexis and the conversation flowed from there, with the company not considering any other venue management firms as potential partners.
“We fell in love with their business model, and the best is good enough for us,” said Gershagen, who added “there’s no comparison when it comes to managing convention centers.”
As Artexis easyFairs, the company organizes more than 90 trade shows in 15 countries including Austria, Canada, Colombia, Singapore, and several others in Europe, bringing in more than $50 million each year.
The fact that Artexis has ties to actual content was a huge draw when considering a partnership.
“If somebody is going to look to a management company to run the facility, managing the building in a cost-efficient, customer service-oriented way is certainly a major part of what we do,” said Caren. “But all of the convention center owners, whether public or private, are looking for events to be brought to their venues.”
“If we’re able to go with a model that doesn’t just offer a management solution, but potentially brings events to those facilities, it’s a more attractive proposition,” he added.
SMG and Artexis together will combine to create a stronger value proposition for facility management in Europe than either alone.
“SMG has the practices, processes and skills well-documented from an operational point of view that we can plug into and utilize and, in Europe, we’re experienced from a sales pitch and market point of view,” said Gershagen. “To combine our marketing and sales capabilities with their operational skills is a perfect fit in my book.”
Artexis’ understanding of the European market will be a valuable asset when it comes to convention center business in particular, where the business model is vastly different from that in the U.S.
“In the U.S., one of the first questions they ask is how many hotel rooms would a company fill — that question is never asked in Europe because that is not an issue,” said Gershagen, who added that European convention centers are run to be profitable businesses. “Bringing in tourism is, of course, a top point, but they don’t factor in how many hotel rooms a company will fill in order to qualify for a tenancy spot, it’s just not part of the equation.”
“From a European perspective we understand that and can get our arms around the situation,” Gershagen added.
Artexis-SMG will be based in Brussels and will be entirely focused on new business, not absorbing any of Artexis' current contracts in Belgium and Sweden and, in fact, not even considering new contracts in those countries, instead focusing on the 45 other countries that make up Europe.
Artexis already has a significant presence in both countries independently. “Those are smaller countries so, beyond the venues that Artexis already has, it’s not like there are a ton of other options there anyway,” said Caren. “It’s their space — no reason to push it.”
Still, both firms have a number of prospects they’ve been speaking with independently that will now be reapproached.
“We’re now in a position to go back with a very solid proposition to these potential clients,” said Caren. “Between Håkan Gershagen (Artexis-SMG VP, Business Development) ourselves, and our other team players, we’re having conversations,” he added, saying that an official launch meeting for the business will occur in Brussels the week of Dec. 3.
“We’re having conversations, but don’t have any delusions of closing business within the next couple of days — but we’re confident to secure contracts within a year,” said Caren.
Interviewed for this story: Gregg Caren, (610) 729-7900; Eric Everard and Håkan Gershagen, +32 2 740 10 90
