KPMG Law and KPMG advise Deutsche Messe AG and Italian Exhibition Group on pro rata sale of Italian German Exhibition Company and joint venture

KPMG Law Rechtsanwaltsgesellschaft mbH (KPMG Law), KPMG AG Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaft (KPMG) and KPMG in Italy advised Deutsche Messe AG, Hanover, and Italian Exhibition Group (IEG), Rimini/Vicenza, on transactions. The Hannover Fairs International GmbH, a subsidiary of Deutsche Messe AG, sold 50 percent of its shares in the Italian German Exhibition Company S.r.l. to establish a joint venture for the organization of trade fairs in Canada, the USA and Mexico.

The new joint venture holding company is based in Rimini, Italy, and controls the companies in Canada, USA and Mexico. Each partner takes over 50 percent of the company.

A total of ten events are involved, two of which – Mexico Active & Sports (Leon, December 2-3, 2022) for the fitness sector and Ecomondo Mexico for “green technologies” – are already being held in cooperation between Deutsche Messe and IEG. Deutsche Messe and the Italian Exhibition Group, two of Europe’s largest trade fair organizers, had signed an initial business agreement in March 2021 to organize a series of events in Mexico.

“We are very much looking forward to intensifying our cooperation with IEG as a competent, growth-oriented partner that manages a trade fair portfolio that ideally complements Deutsche Messe AG’s events on the American continent,” said Dr. Jochen Köckler, CEO of Deutsche Messe AG.

Deutsche Messe AG: Wolfram Feuerhake (Finance & Admin), Jan-Peter Lauchart (Senior Project Director, Accounting & Controlling), all Hanover, Ed Nichols (USA and Canada), Bernd Rohde (Mexico)

Italian Exhibition Group: Andrea Babini, Lucia Cicognani, Francesco Santa

KPMG Law Rechtsanwaltsgesellschaft mbH: Dr. Christian Nordholtz (Partner, Co-Lead, Hanover),
Dr. Dimitri Immermann
(Manager, Hanover),
Frederik Wesch
(Senior Associate, Hanover),
Marlon Wehrenberg
(Senior Associate, Hanover), Jesper Wilckens (Associate, Hanover), Johanna Becker (Associate, Hanover), Pia-Theresa Reede (Associate, Hanover), all Corporate/M&A; Dr. Martin Trayer (Partner, Frankfurt), Liza Rauter (Associate, Hanover), both Labor Law;
Dr. Anna-Kristine Wipper
(Partner, Berlin), IP Law; Dr. Gerrit Rixen (Partner, Cologne), Antitrust Law

KPMG AG Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaft, Tax: Serjoscha Keck (Partner, Hanover),
Oliver Mattern
(Partner, Co-Lead, Hanover), Dennis Schmidt (Manager, Hanover)

KPMG Italy Tax: Alessandra Tronconi ( Partner, Co-Lead, Bologna)

KPMG Italy Law / Studio Associato – Consulenza legale e tributaria: Alberto Cirillo (Partner, Torino), Vottoria Ferreti (Manager, Bologna), Zorza, Ismael Ezequiel (Associate, Bologna), all Corporate/M&A; Alessandro Legnante (Manager, Bologna), IP Law