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Apollo’s latest shopping spree
Apollo Global Management is back in deal mode, and this time it’s building a little B2B events kingdom. Apollo-managed funds agreed to buy Emerald Holding and Questex in separate all-cash deals, with the goal of creating a bigger North American events and media platform.
The pitch is pretty simple: take Emerald’s trade show portfolio, combine it with Questex’s digital engagement tools, and suddenly you’ve got a business that can hang onto customers all year instead of just cashing checks when the confetti cannons go off at the conference center.
Why investors should care
Emerald shareholders are getting $5.03 a share in cash, which works out to a 42.1% premium to the unaffected price and an implied enterprise value of about $1.5 billion. That’s the kind of bid that makes a board meeting move a lot faster.
A few key bits to watch:
- Emerald’s board already signed off unanimously
- Onex, which owns more than 90% of Emerald, has agreed to vote yes
- The deal is expected to close in the second half of 2026, assuming regulators and the usual closing hoops don’t get in the way
Not just a one-off deal
Apollo isn’t buying a trophy asset and calling it a day. It’s trying to assemble a platform with roughly 160 events across multiple industries. In a world where everyone talks about AI, digital outreach, and virtual everything, Apollo is basically betting that people still want to shake hands, scan badges, and buy expensive booth coffee.
Emerald also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.015 per share for the quarter ending June 30, 2026, payable on June 1, 2026 to holders of record on May 21, 2026. And as you’d expect after a buyout announcement, Emerald canceled its previously scheduled Q1 2026 earnings call — because once the company’s headed to private ownership, the call becomes a lot less interesting.
Big picture: Apollo is leaning into a boring-but-profitable corner of the economy, which is often where the sneaky-good returns hide.