Restructuring: MCH examines sale of service business
Trade show operator MCH is taking the next step in its restructuring. Going forward, it plans to focus on organizing trade shows and divest its services business. In the medium term, the exhibition centers in Basel and Zurich are also up for sale.
In concrete terms, various strategic options, including a sale, are being examined for the time being for the "Live Marketing Solutions" division, as the company announced on Thursday. This is the company's service subsidiary, which offers, among other things, strategy consulting and the construction of trade fair pavilions. The division contributed nearly 40 percent of the entire group's revenue in fiscal 2018 and currently employs about 500 people, about half of the workforce, according to a company spokesperson.
"Concentration necessary"
"We've done a great job with our own trade shows and our Live Marketing Solutions two business areas with great development potential, but have to concentrate on one of them due to limited investment funds," Chairman of the Board of Directors Ulrich Vischer explained the step in the press release. However, the division that could be sold is very well positioned, it was emphasized.
The modalities of the possible sale are still open, according to the company spokesman. It is possible to sell the division as a whole or piece by piece, he told the AWP news agency.
New ideas in demand
In future, the MCH Group will therefore be focusing on "the organization of future-oriented, leading national and international platforms such as exhibitions, events and congresses". In the next few years, it intends to invest in the further development of existing events and the creation of new formats.
Live events will continue to gain in importance, the reasoning goes. "However, new ideas are needed because the needs of customers are changing fundamentally," CEO Bernd Stadlwieser was quoted as saying. "We therefore need to invest in innovation, digitalization and internationalization."
According to the information provided, the funds for this are to be made available through cost-cutting measures. Primarily, savings are to be made in procurement, but to a lesser extent also in personnel.
Open future of the exhibition center
The company's own exhibition infrastructure at the two locations in Basel and Zurich will also be put up for sale, the statement added. In the medium term, "the most suitable ownership and operating structure" is to be found in this regard. A private owner is possible, the company spokesman said. However, a stronger commitment by the public sector is also conceivable.
These are huge areas. For example, MCH owns exhibition space of 140,000 square meters in Basel and 30,000 square meters in Zurich. This corresponds to the area of around two dozen soccer fields.
MCH, which was in the headlines among other things because of cancellations by prominent brands at the Baselworld watch fair, had initiated a transformation process in summer 2018. The aim of the measures now announced is to return to an appropriate level of profitability and to secure this in the long term. The details of the new strategy should be known by the end of the year so that implementation can begin in 2020, MCH further announced. (SDA)
