Convene adds 16 venues to its portfolio with etc.venues acquisition

Convene has acquired etc.venues in a reported £200m deal that adds 16 new venues to its portfolio. The hospitality company, which creates and manages event and flexible office spaces, has taken on all of etc.venues’ locations across London, Manchester, Birmingham and New York. The company has now been valued at $800m (£649m). In April 2022, Hudson’s Bay Company, the owner of SaksWorks, took a majority stake in a transaction valuing the business at $500m. With the acquisition, Convene now has a network of 38 meetings, events and flexible office locations across the US and the UK. Etc.venues was founded in 1992 and provides conferencing venues across a 450,000 sq ft real estate portfolio. This includes 13 UK venues and three in New York. The acquisition comes following Convene’s partnership with SaksWorks in 2022 and the announcement of its new San Francisco venue, due to open later this year. Convene chief executive Ryan Simonetti said: “The London and New York markets continue to rebound at a tremendous pace post-Covid, with demand for outsourced premium meeting and event solutions accelerating from clients and landlords alike.” To send feedback, e-mail chante.bohitige@eg.co.uk or tweet @bohitige or @EGPropertyNews Photo © Convene