Apollo buying Emerald Holding and Questex in $1.5B deal

Apollo Global Management announced Monday that it has agreed to acquire trade show and events companies Emerald Holding and Questex, with plans to merge them into a single B2B events platform.

Under the terms of the Emerald deal, stockholders will receive $5.03 per share in cash — a 42.1% premium to Emerald's unaffected share price — implying a closing enterprise value of about $1.5 billion, Apollo said. Emerald stock closed Friday at $4.57. The price Apollo is paying for privately held Questex was not disclosed, though it is smaller than the Emerald transaction, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Onex, the investment firm that holds more than 90% of Emerald's outstanding stock, has entered into a support agreement to vote in favor of the deal. Apollo is acquiring Questex from private equity firm MidOcean Partners, according to The Wall Street Journal. Emerald's board approved the transaction unanimously.

Together, the two companies would operate about 160 events across complementary industries, Apollo said. Among Emerald's offerings are major trade shows and conferences such as Outdoor Retailer, an outdoor sports event, along with e-commerce services for businesses. Questex focuses on sectors ranging from beauty and wellness to travel, hospitality, and life sciences, running its own trade shows and publishing digital media properties such as Fierce Pharma and Fierce Biotech.

"Bringing together Emerald and Questex would create a scaled, complementary platform that is well positioned to capture that demand," Shahid Bosan, a managing director at Apollo, said in a statement, citing the value of in-person gatherings as AI expands how professionals connect online.

Hervé Sedky, president and CEO of Emerald, said in a statement that the acquisition would provide "enhanced resources, strategic support, and long-term capital to accelerate our growth."

The transaction is expected to close in the second half of 2026, pending regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions. Once complete, Emerald will be taken private and its stock will be removed from the New York Stock Exchange.

Apollo said it plans to pursue additional acquisitions to expand the combined platform, pointing to the B2B live-events sector as fragmented and ripe for consolidation. While Apollo has previously held stakes in experience-driven venues — the Venetian Resort Las Vegas among them — the firm has not previously operated in the live events sector, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Apollo reported $1.026 trillion in assets under management at the end of the first quarter, crossing the $1 trillion threshold for the first time, with record fee-related earnings of $728 million. The firm has set a target of $1.5 trillion in AUM by 2029.