Comexposium: Unibail-Rodamco prepares to sell stake to Charterhouse

By

Jean-Paul Leroy

Published
Mar 31, 2015

Commercial property company Unibail-Rodamco is getting ready to sell its stake in Comexposium, the French trade show organizer that it owns jointly with the Paris Ile-de-France Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The two partners announced that they had signed an exclusive agreement with the UK investment firm Charterhouse for the purchase from Unibail. The parties are aiming to conclude the agreement in the second quarter of 2015.

In 2008, Unibail-Rodamco and CCIR merged their convention and exhibition activities into two entities: Comexposium and Viparis. Comexposium is the result of the merging of Exposium's events activities for Unibail-Rodamco and those of Comexpo for CCIR. Viparis, meanwhile, is in charge of managing the venues, including la Porte de Versailles, Villepinte, le Carrousel du Louvre, le Palais des Congrès porte Maillot, le Cnit, etc. Viparis will continue to be owned by its shareholders Unibail and CCIR. 

Comexposium is the fourth largest exhibition organizer with over 135 events, representing 38,000 exhibitors and welcoming 3.5 million visitors per year. The transaction values Comexposium at 550 million euros. 

Among the events that Comexposium either owns or owns a stake in are: Who's Next-Première Classe, Mode City, Salon International de la Lingerie, Silmo, E-Commerce Paris, etc.

Comexposium represents less than 1% of the total value of Unibail-Rodamco’s asset portfolio, which is overwhelmingly dominated by shopping centers.