Last week we were first in tipping you off that the owners of the International Gaming Awards and Women in Gaming Awards, Clever Duck Media (CDM), were in the process of being sold for upwards of £1.3million.
January’s conference season played out like a cattle market as those in the gaming conference space sized up the possibility of what CDM might add to their business that they don’t have already.
After we put an article out yesterday looking at who might be in the running, further developments have taken course and the sale has apparently taken on a very different direction according to sources close to the sale.
Following the earlier article, one of the group’s that we were informed by a well-placed source were involved in the process, Reed Exhibitions, have denied any involvement. Courtney Muller, Senior Vice President told us that they “are not involved.”
It’s interesting that Reed have chosen this stance and it could well just be the well-known exhibition company simply deflecting information away and not admitting anything until the deal’s done.
One group we didn’t mention in yesterday’s article was the organizers of the upcoming Gaming Executive Summit Latin America, Terrapinn, who have extensive experience in the conference industry.
When CalvinAyre.com’s Rebecca Liggero asked them whether they were involved, General Manager of the team responsible for GES LatAm, Martin Kelly, replied that “Terrapinn is very excited about the Latin American gaming space and the potential for events for both online and offline operators.”
This is interesting as it’s the first company who haven’t flat out denied that they’re involved in the process, which could signal that they’re in fact the front-runners in this curious sale.
There’s more though…
Those in the know seem to think that the sale will actually only be for 51% or 49% of the company for the earlier mentioned figure of £1.3m, the remainder of the group being put up for sale in two to three years time. It’s all part of a three year plan, at the end of the which the company is expected to sell for around £2.5million after the company have embarked on a strategy to expand the events they operate.
It’s not expected that the deal will be signed up at any time soon but it’s still well and truly in the pipeline, and if you think you know more, post in the comments section below.
