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Outdoor Retailer, Interbike, HFB trade-show owner reportedly up for sale

Numerous media outlets, including Bloomberg and The Wall Street Journal, are reporting that Nielsen Expositions, the trade-show business that owns and operates the Outdoor Retailer, Interbike and Health & Fitness Business trade shows is up for sale.


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Numerous media outlets, including Bloomberg and The Wall Street Journal, are reporting that Nielsen Expositions, the trade-show business that owns and operates the Outdoor Retailer, Interbike and Health & Fitness Business is up for sale.

Outdoor Retailer officials told SNEWS they could neither confirm nor deny the reports.

Sources have told the media outlets that parent company Nielsen Holdings is working with Credit Suisse Group AG to seek buyers for the trade-show unit. Nielsen Expositions runs more than 25 trade shows, focused on sports, fitness, health care, photography and other specialty industries.

The unit reported $183 million in sales and $94 million in operating profit in 2012, and sources said the business could fetch up to $1 billion in a sale, which would represent about a 10-times earnings price tag.

Any potential sale would not affect the relationship between Outdoor Retailer and the Outdoor Industry Association, officials told SNEWS. “The show has been sold several times since we established our agreement,” OIA officials said.

Outdoor Retailer and OIA recently endorsed a short-term extension deal to keep Summer and Winter Market in Salt Lake City through 2016. Outdoor Retailer officials also recently released details on a revamped housing plan for Summer Market 2013 that is expected to begin sending out confirmations March 12.

–David Clucas