Adnkronos (Adnkronos) – Ten years of unstoppable growth benefiting the regions, shareholders, and stakeholders. It was truly a brilliant idea that gave rise to the first trade fair integration ever in Italy. On November 1st, Italian Exhibition Group will celebrate a significant anniversary: the merger between Fiera di Rimini and Fiera di Vicenza on November 1st, 2016, created IEG-Italian Exhibition Group.
This operation was strongly supported by the president of Rimini Fiera, Lorenzo Cagnoni, and saw him become president of the newly formed IEG. Matteo Marzotto, who at the time was president of the Vice-President of Rimini Fiera, was appointed vice-president. On October 28, 2016, during the merger announcement conference, attended by the then mayor of Rimini, Andrea Gnassi, now a member of the Italian Parliament, and the mayor of Vicenza, Achille Variati (later a member of the European Parliament), a "jewel cake" by master pastry chef Roberto Rinaldini was cut, with the aim of ideally celebrating the two leading products of Rimini and Vicenza: Sigep and Vicenzaoro.
A merger between trade fair companies that to this day has had no equal in our country and which in the years to come would firmly position IEG among the top 20 trade fair organizers in the world.
A few numbers clearly illustrate the exceptional growth achieved over the past ten years. After the merger of the two companies, IEG began with 270 employees, almost entirely operating in Italy, and a turnover of €119 million; the 2025 budget approved a production value of €266,4 million, and the workforce has grown to more than 800 worldwide.
Three years after the merger, on the morning of June 19, 2019, the historic listing took place on the then MTA (Electronic Stock Market) of the Italian Stock Exchange; the placement price was €3,69, and the stock has now quadrupled in value.
According to IEG President Maurizio Ermeti, "These ten years have given us a major international trade fair player that we could not have achieved on our own; an event organizer that competes with the top global players; a new, solid home for gold and jewelry, in Vicenza, which will guarantee the future of that community. And in Rimini, a project for an extraordinary expansion that will attract important trade fairs from around the world."
"In the European trade fair landscape," says IEG CEO Corrado Peraboni, "we represent a unique case. Not a simple integration, but an industrial project capable of transforming distance into value. Over ten years, IEG has demonstrated that a multi-venue model can grow, innovate, and compete globally without losing its local roots."
Carlo Costa, now IEG's chief corporate officer, who personally oversaw the merger, concludes: "The 'IEG project', with the involvement of shareholders, and the subsequent integration process, have led us to a level of professional growth and maturity that has enabled us to tackle crucial projects such as the listing and the international expansion process of recent years. Thank you, IEG!"
Italian Exhibition Group is currently working towards the objectives of the 2025-2030 Industrial Plan, which by the end of the plan targets consolidated revenues of between 360 and 365 million euros. Next December, to celebrate its tenth anniversary, IEG will publish a gift book that will chronicle the company's global evolution between 2016 and 2026. The book will also have an e-book version available for free download from all online platforms.
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