Apollo Took Emerald Private. Which Trade Show Stocks Are Left?

On July 14, shares of Emerald Holding, Inc. (formerly EEX on the New York Stock Exchange), a company that described itself as "America's largest producer of trade shows" in its full-year 2025 results, stopped trading. Funds managed by Apollo Global Management, Inc. (APO) paid $5.03 USD per share in cash, according to the closing Form 8-K.

That price was a 42.1% premium to Emerald's unaffected share price and implied an enterprise value of about $1.5 billion USD, per the deal announcement. Emerald reported 2025 adjusted EBITDA of $127.1 million USD and guided 2026 to $137.5 million USD to $142.5 million USD, so Apollo paid roughly 11.8 times trailing and 10.7 times forward adjusted EBITDA. Private capital has now priced a U.S. trade show portfolio. Public investors have one fewer way to own one.

"As AI and digital tools rapidly expand the ways professionals connect and share information, they are simultaneously elevating the value of trusted, in-person gatherings," said Shahid Bosan, a managing director at Apollo.

Why Exhibitors Keep Paying for Floor Space

The booth is the product, and the buyer walking past it is the reason it sells. One industry compilation of data on trade show attendees puts the share with buying authority at 82%, and the share who are not yet customers of the companies exhibiting at 64%. Exhibitors pay for that access months in advance.

That prepayment is what makes organizers attractive. At the half-year mark, Informa had commitments covering about 90% of its Informa Markets division's full-year exhibitor revenue, the company said in its 2026 half-year results. The company entered July with most of that division's exhibitor revenue already under contract.

Attendance has held up even where tourism has not. Las Vegas drew 38.5 million visitors in 2025, down 7.5% from 2024, but hosted 6.0 million convention attendees, "nearly matching 2024 levels," the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority reported in January. Nationally, the 2026 CEIR Index Report forecasts 2.1% growth in its total index of U.S. business-to-business exhibitions this year.

Three Listed Ways to Own the Show Floor

RELX (RELX): Exhibitions as a Minority Holding

RELX PLC (RELX) offers diluted exposure. Exhibitions supplied £575 million of the group's £4,871 million in first-half revenue, or about 12%. The division grew underlying revenue 6% in the half, TSNN reported, while reported adjusted operating profit slipped to £226 million from £234 million on event cycling and timing. The margin was 39.3%.

At $36.81 USD, RELX trades at 18.4 times forward earnings, 17.15 times EBITDA and 16.75 times free cash flow (FCF), with a 2.49% yield, per RELX valuation data. The shares are down 18.09% over 52 weeks. Buyers get a data and analytics company with a trade show arm attached.

Informa (IFJPY): Contracts Signed Before the Doors Open

Informa plc (IFJPY), which trades in London as INF, reported a first half that looked worse than the business beneath it, with adjusted operating profit falling to £548.3 million from £578.9 million. Informa cited timing. Biennial event phasing and rescheduling in markets directly affected by conflict in the Middle East explain the drop, the company said.

Underneath, demand held. B2B live events grew underlying revenue 8.0%, according to the half-year statement, with Informa Markets above 10%, and management reaffirmed a 7%-plus target for live events while raising its 2026 buyback to £350 million from £250 million.

The market has not paid up for it. At 881.4 pence, the London shares fetch 14.27 times forward earnings, per Informa valuation data, while trailing reported earnings put the P/E at 51.16, a gap that shows how far reported profit sits below what analysts expect next year.

Ryman Hospitality (RHP): The Landlord for Conventions

Ryman Hospitality Properties, Inc. (RHP) houses the crowd, and the crowd is paying more. During the second quarter, the REIT, which specializes in group-oriented convention center resorts, booked more than 768,000 room nights for future periods at an estimated average daily rate of about $310 USD, up 8.6% and an all-time quarterly record, according to its second-quarter release. Revenue hit $749.0 million USD.

REIT investors price adjusted funds from operations (AFFO), not EPS. Management raised 2026 AFFO guidance to $8.98 USD to $9.28 USD per share, so at $123.48 USD the stock trades at about 13.5 times the midpoint, against 25.87 times forward earnings, per RHP valuation data. The $4.80 USD annual dividend absorbs roughly 53% of that AFFO. The shares are up 41.18% in a year.

Company	Ticker	Price	Fwd P/E	EV/EBITDA	P/FCF	ROE	Yield
RELX	RELX	$36.81 USD	18.40	17.15	16.75	131.86%*	2.49%
Informa	INF (IFJPY)	881.4p	14.27	13.95	14.60	4.50%	2.50%
Ryman Hospitality	RHP	$123.48 USD	25.87	14.54	30.53	22.58%	3.91%
Emerald (Apollo deal)	Delisted	$5.03 USD	n/a	11.8 (trailing)	n/a	n/a	n/a

*RELX's return on equity reflects a small book equity base; its price-to-book ratio is 38.09. Market data as of Oct. 13, 2026.

Where the Thesis Could Break

Travel is the pressure point. "Trade policy uncertainty and elevated costs continue to weigh on business sentiment," said Adam Sacks, president of Tourism Economics, in the CEIR release, though he called those factors "unlikely to derail the industry's recovery." RELX said its rescheduled Middle East events, about 4% of divisional revenue per the TSNN report, are planned for the second half but remain subject to regional conditions.

Adjusted and GAAP figures can diverge. Emerald grew adjusted EBITDA 25.0% in 2025 yet reported a net loss of $30.7 million USD, its year-end release shows. RHP's free cash flow multiple of 30.53 and $4.13 billion USD of total debt, per the same valuation data, deserve a look before anyone treats a convention REIT as a bond substitute.

The Next Data Points

Ryman has set its date. The REIT will report third-quarter results after the market closes on Nov. 2, with a call the next morning, the company announced in September. RELX issued its October trading update on Oct. 23 last year. The guidance on the table is specific: 7%-plus underlying growth for Informa's live events and $8.98 USD to $9.28 USD of AFFO per share at Ryman. Watch RHP's earnings estimates against its forward booking pace and any RELX commentary on the rescheduled Middle East shows, then check the Barchart earnings calendar for confirmed dates.

Apollo's math points to roughly 11.8 times EBITDA for a U.S. organizer, below the 17.15 times RELX and the 13.95 times Informa fetch on trailing EBITDA, though Emerald's figure uses the company's adjusted measure. Emerald's own buybacks set an earlier marker. In 2025, the company repurchased 4.1 million shares at an average of $4.32 USD, 71 cents below what Apollo paid.

On the date of publication, the author had no positions in any of the securities mentioned. This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.