Singapore investment company Temasek's SingEx Holdings, which operates the Singapore Expo and Max Atria, will merge with Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) events subsidiary Sphere Exhibits, under an agreement by the two owners.
Temasek will own 60 per cent of the new SingEx-Sphere Holdings, while SPH, which publishes The Straits Times, takes the remaining 40 per cent. The agreed transaction value of 40 per cent of SingEx-Sphere is $24.4 million.
In an announcement yesterday, SingEx and Sphere said the new company aims to be a regional Mice (meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions) market leader for hybrid events, with a combined portfolio of events management, venue and consultancy businesses.
SingEx chairman Robin Hu said events and exhibitions remain the most robust marketing channels for businesses around the world today.
The two companies, with their combined five decades of experience in organising and hosting both trade and consumer shows across sectors, have built a strong foundation for the Mice scene in Singapore and in the region.
"The ambition of the merged entity is to continue building on its firm foundation by adding to it additional intellectual properties in the form of new events and exhibitions via both organic curation and inorganic investments," added Mr Hu, who will be appointed chairman of the new entity.
Despite the challenges posed by the coronavirus pandemic, both SingEx and Sphere see tremendous potential in the Mice space, especially with Singapore remaining a dynamic business hub connecting companies globally.
SPH chief executive Ng Yat Chung said: "This merger will allow us to tap each other's expertise, resources and networks to seize new opportunities to enhance the portfolio and achieve growth regionally."
SingEx, which is wholly owned by Temasek, has a 40-year track record in event and venue experiences.
Before the pandemic, the Singapore Expo welcomed more than six million visitors and held over 600 events annually.
It has shored up its hybrid capabilities over the past year, and has hosted the Industrial Transformation Asia-Pacific as well as the Singapore Fintech Festival and Singapore Week of Innovation and Technology events.
SingEx also managed the Covid-19 community care facility at the Singapore Expo from April to December last year.
Sphere Exhibits, which was incorporated in 2008, has expanded its footprint in the region over the years, holding consumer and trade events in countries such as China, Indonesia and the Philippines. Among the exhibitions it has hosted are Comex and the IT Show.
According to a survey in 2019, the Mice industry supported more than 34,000 jobs in Singapore, with an economic value-add of $3.8 billion or nearly 1 per cent of the Republic's gross domestic product.
The Asia-Pacific region was the largest Mice market in 2019, according to a Business Wire report last year.
