CI Capital Partners has sold PRA, a business event management company, to EagleTree Capital.
Chicago-headquartered PRA provides end-to-end event planning, creative, and production services to in-person, digital, and hybrid corporate meetings and events, incentive travel programs, conventions, and conferences. Customers of PRA include corporate clients, and many Fortune 100 companies, across a variety of industries.
CI Capital acquired PRA – then AlliedPRA, the company rebranded in October 2018 – from UK private equity firm Core Capital Partners in August 2017. During CI Capital’s ownership term, PRA completed nine add-on acquisitions and, in tandem with organic growth, achieved a nearly three-fold growth in both revenue and EBITDA.
Four of the add-on acquisitions included New York-based Briggs (2017), Tennessee-based Destination Nashville (2018), Illinois-based One Smooth Stone (2018), and Florida-based Koncept Events (2019).
The company’s add-on acquisition program expanded the business into several important US markets, built its digital event capabilities and advanced its technology capabilities. According to PRA, its add-on acquisition program directly enabled the company to navigate the COVID-19 pandemic.
“CI Capital is proud to have collaborated with PRA for more than five transformative years, driving growth and resilience through the COVID-19 pandemic to achieve the best year in PRA’s history in 2022,” said Fred Iseman, the CEO of CI Capital. “We wish the PRA management team all the best as the company enters this exciting new phase of its evolution.”
“With CI Capital’s partnership, we significantly scaled our operations to deliver broader reach for our clients and expanded our digital offerings to emerge from the pandemic as a more formidable enterprise,” said Mike Fiber, the CEO of PRA. “We look forward to building on this momentum to deliver even more value for our clients as a go-to partner for cutting-edge experiences.”
“PRA has built a strong reputation by creating unique and highly-engaging programs for its diverse customer base and is well positioned to continue leading the business events sector,” said Mike Struble, a senior partner of EagleTree. “We look forward to working with Mike Fiber, the senior leadership, and the talented team at PRA, to support the company’s continued growth and help shape the future of this industry.”
New York City-headquartered EagleTree, formerly Wasserstein Partners, invests in the media and communications, consumer products, and water and industrial sectors. The firm’s acquisition of PRA was made through EagleTree Partners V LP.
“PRA represents a great opportunity for EagleTree to leverage its experience investing in travel, trade shows and conferences, and event services. We are excited to partner with the entire team at PRA,” said Anup Bagaria, a co-managing partner of EagleTree.
New York City-headquartered CI Capital Partners invests from $10 million to $150 million in middle-market companies operating in the outsourced business services, residential services, distribution and logistics, government services, and healthcare services sectors. Since its founding in 1993, CI Capital and its portfolio companies have made over 425 platform company and add-on acquisitions totaling more than $10 billion in enterprise value.
New York City-based BrightTower was the financial advisor to PRA on this transaction.
© 2023 Private Equity Professional | March 14, 2023
