Apollo to take Emerald private in $1.5 billion deal

Apollo-managed funds have reached a definitive agreement to acquire Emerald (NYSE:EEX) for $5.03 per share in cash, representing a 42.1% premium to the company's unaffected share price.

The transaction implies an enterprise value of approximately $1.5 billion.

Onex Corporation, which controls more than 90% of Emerald’s voting power, has entered into a support agreement to vote in favor of the merger, effectively securing the necessary shareholder approval.

Simultaneously with the Emerald deal, Apollo agreed to acquire Questex from MidOcean Partners.

While the financial terms of the Questex acquisition were not disclosed, the combination is designed to pair Emerald’s category-leading exhibitions—such as Outdoor Retailer and ASD Market Week—with Questex’s robust 365-day digital engagement model and specialty events like the International Beauty Show.

Apollo Managing Director Shahid Bosan noted that as digital tools expand, the value of trusted in-person gatherings has simultaneously elevated, positioning the new platform to capture heightened demand for industrial networking.

Emerald’s board of directors has unanimously approved the deal and subsequently cancelled the company’s first-quarter 2026 earnings conference call.

Despite the pending merger, Emerald declared a quarterly dividend of $0.015 per share, payable on June 1, 2026.

Upon the deal's expected completion in the second half of 2026, Emerald will become a privately held company and its common stock will be delisted from the New York Stock Exchange.