NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Emerald Holding, Inc. (NYSE:EEX) ("Emerald" or the "Company") today announced that it has acquired all of the assets comprising the business known as Lodestone Events, producers of the successful Overland Expo series of vehicle-based, adventure travel consumer shows. The acquisition supports Emerald and Lodestone’s shared mission to power connectivity, builds on Emerald's decades of experience in outdoor recreation with its renowned Outdoor Retailer wholesale trade show, and represents the Company's strategic expansion into the growing business-to-consumer (B2C) event space.
All Lodestone employees will join the Emerald team, with Lodestone founders Lindsay Hubley and Jessica Kirchner joining Emerald's management team and continuing to lead the Overland Expo series. The team will also oversee Emerald's previously announced Outdoor Adventure X show, Emerald's new consumer lifestyle event for the outdoor recreation enthusiast. Outdoor Adventure X will take place on June 17-18, 2023, at Snowbasin Resort in Huntsville, Utah the weekend preceding Outdoor Retailer's business-to-business (B2B) summer show in Salt Lake City.
The acquisition of Overland Expo event series and daily digital content signifies another important step in Emerald’s portfolio optimization strategy: strengthening the Company’s position in high-growth markets and expanding further into consumer events.
"Formally entering the B2C event space is paramount to Emerald’s corporate strategy of expanding into new and high-growth markets to accelerate top-line growth and unlock significant value for shareholders,” said Hervé Sedky, President & CEO of Emerald. “Adding a best-in-class consumer event series like Overland Expo demonstrates our successful implementation of this strategy and provides Emerald with talented leaders in this space, who together will enable us to continue to advance Emerald's core services of live event connections, content, and commerce.”
“Emerald and Lodestone Events have been working together for the past year to bring Outdoor Adventure X to market, and we look forward to building on this collaboration and creating even greater value for the entire outdoor industry ecosystem, from manufacturer to retailer, to consumer,” Sedky added.
“We are passionate about gathering communities of enthusiasts to get trained, outfitted, and inspired for their outdoor adventures, and are grateful to be partnering with Emerald, who are so strongly aligned with our business philosophy. We look forward to continuing to enhance the client and attendee event experience and 365-day digital content strategy with the Emerald team,” said Lindsay Hubley, Lodestone Events Co-Founder.
About Emerald: Emerald's talented and experienced team grows our customers' businesses 365 days a year through connections, content, and commerce. We expand connections that drive new business opportunities, product discovery, and relationships with over 140 annual events, matchmaking, and lead-gen services. We create content to ensure that our customers are on the cutting edge of their industries and are continually developing their skills. And we power commerce through efficient year-round buying and selling. We do all this by seamlessly integrating in-person and digital platforms and channels. Emerald is immersed in the industries we serve and committed to supporting the communities in which we operate. As true partners, we create experiences that inspire, amaze, and deliver breakthrough results. For more information, please visit emeraldx.com.
About Lodestone Events: Lodestone Events is an event solutions company specializing in consumer lifestyle event strategy, marketing, and content creation, planning and logistics, and sponsorship and exhibitor sales. Lodestone’s flagship event, Overland Expo, is the world’s premier event series for vehicle-based adventure enthusiasts with four events held annually in Arizona, Oregon, Colorado, and Virginia. Overland Expo event weekends host hundreds of session-hours of overland education alongside camping, a film festival, product demos and a public trade show featuring hundreds of brands selling products directly to consumers. The 2022 Overland Expo series drew 77,000 consumer attendees, 1,300 exhibitors, and 250 journalists. Attendees participated in 1,700 session-hours of classroom style education, roundtable discussions and hands-on instruction across the 1,380 classes. Learn more at www.overlandexpo.com.
About Outdoor Retailer: Outdoor Retailer, the leading U.S. business events for the outdoor and winter sports industry, brings together retailers, manufacturers, designers, distributors, industry advocates, journalists, and more to conduct the business of outdoor recreation through commerce, unique product experiences, dedicated media events, content, and web-based business solutions. Outdoor Retailer provides critical platforms for face-to-face commerce, product launches, networking, and focused industry education to enhance business and support the outdoor recreation economy. Visit outdoorretailer.com for more information.
