HungExpo: Privatization deal finally goes through

The mainly state-owned Hungexpo Rt. has been privatised. "The sale of Hungexpo Rt. has been one of the longest drawn-out privatisation processes in post-communist Hungary: the trade fair company has been on sale since 1990", one Budapest newspaper wrote this April. Representatives of the state privatisation authority APV Rt. and the applying consortium had to wait until 4 July before they could sign the relevant documents.
The consortium, consisting of the French group GL Events, headquartered in Brignais, and the companies of the Hungarian billionaire Sándor Demján, signed a contract at the end of April assuring them 77 % of the state-owned shares in Hungexpo for 32.5 million. The purchase price was transferred to APV Rt.'s account in early July. The shares were simultaneously made over to the Franco-Hungarian team, making it the majority shareholder in the trade fair organiser.
The contract stipulates that Hungexpo must remain in Kobánya - the district of the Hungarian capital where it is currently located.
The Hungexpo grounds currently covering 17 ha may grow to 36 ha over the next few years. The purchasers have undertaken to invest about EUR 20.3 million in the exhibition centre within the next five years, to be followed by another EUR 10.2-million investment in the development of Hungexpo in a second five-year period. For the period after that, the business plan envisages construction of a new, multifunctional exhibition hall. "That will make Budapest a serious contender in the trade fair business alongside other European capitals", sources in the capital say. "The excellent references of the French company guarantee this development", declared a spokesman for HungExpo.
GL Events runs facilities in twelve different locations. The company organises trade fairs, conventions and corporate events with full service for both trade visitors and the general public. Its equity ratio is 120 million and it has over 2,000 employees on its payroll. The French company only recently won the tender for privatisation of the Fiera di Padova.

m+a report Nr.6 / 2005 vom 23.09.2005
m+a report vom 23. September 2005