Reed Exhibitions Acquires U.K.-based Legend Exhibitions

November 27, 2015

Reed Exhibitions, part of RELX Group, has acquired Legend Exhibitions, the organization behind two of Europe’s leading retail technology and retail design events.

Legend Exhibitions’ portfolio includes RBTE (Retail Business Technology Expo), Retail Design Expo, Retail Digital Signage Expo, as well as three online content platforms (Essential Retail, Retail Design World and Essential Ecommerce).

The company also runs summits and forums for the retail sector that address the dynamic developments taking place in-store, online and in the multichannel environment.

Launched in 2011 and taking place in March in London, RBTE is one of the leading retail solutions events, attracting more than12,000 visitors annually, mainly retailers, as well as hospitality, travel and leisure operators.

Successfully launched in 2015, the collocated Retail Design Expo attracts designers, architects, brand owners and retailers. Retail Digital Signage Expo will be launched in March 2016.

Legend Exhibitions is well placed to benefit from the growing U.K. retail market, valued at £433bn in 2014. From a global perspective, the U.K. has the highest proportion of online sales, at 24 percent of its total retail sales. The U.K. online retail market is forecast to grow 12 percent this year.

Richard Mortimore, CEO, Reed Exhibitions U.K., said: "The acquisition of Legend Exhibitions is an exciting opportunity to move into the retail technology and retail design industry.”

He added, “Retail is undergoing an unprecedented level of change principally due to ecommerce and the smart phone, resulting in exceptional innovation and new product development. This is the perfect business environment for Reed Exhibitions to become the leading provider of events that serve this sector.”

John Bednall, CEO, Legend Exhibitions, said, “Legend Exhibitions is growing fast in serving this huge and exciting sector.  As part of Reed Exhibitions we will be able to grow our exhibitions, summits and online magazines even faster both here in the UK and abroad.”

Darren Johnson, B2B divisional director, Reed Exhibitions UK will oversee the new events.

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