GLM has acquired the events group of Vertical Web Media (VWM), including Internet Retailer Conference & Exhibition (IRCE), the leading e-commerce event in the United States, and two allied events: Internet Retailer Mobile Marketing & Commerce Forum and Internet Retailer Web Design and Usability Conference. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
The acquisition creates a strategic partnership between the two companies, whereby the existing Internet Retailer Conference & Exhibition sales, marketing and operations team will remain with the events group and operate as an independent division of GLM, one of the country’s largest operators of trade shows for the retailing market.
Vertical Web Media will continue to provide conference agenda development, speaker recruitment services and marketing support. VWM will retain all of its media properties, including its Internet Retailer Magazine, news and informational websites, email newsletters, and research databases and directories.
“The IRCE event presents top-quality, forward-looking conference content, and continues to see strong growth as to both conference attendees and exhibition participants,” said Charles G. McCurdy, chairman and CEO of GLM, whose shows include the New York International Gift Fair, the International Contemporary Furniture Fair, the National Stationery Show, Surf Expo and SURTEX. “Because Internet retailing and e-commerce are such important growth topics for the retailers and suppliers who attend GLM’s existing shows, this is a natural extension of GLM’s reach and impact within the supplier and retailer community.”
“We are extremely excited about this collaboration with GLM,” commented Jack Love, chairman and publisher, VWM. “Our extensive knowledge of, and contacts within, the e-commerce and online retail space, combined with GLM’s trade-show expertise and expansive reach within the retail community, lay a strong groundwork for future development of GLM events and Internet Retailer publications around the globe.”
Chicago-based VWM provides business intelligence for the e-commerce market, serving more than 75,000 publication subscribers and more than 280,000 unique monthly Web visitors. The company launched its monthly Internet Retailer Magazine in 1999, and today is the largest media group exclusively covering the e-commerce field.
