Transforming the Live Events Landscape

Igniting Success through Exclusive Partnership

Key members of the Auxilium team embarked on a transformative journey exclusively focusing on a strategic buy & build strategy within the live events sector. This commenced with the strategic acquisition of Mobile Promotions. Business Insight – Mobile Promotions, an experiential and live events business, was under family ownership and had a turnover of £4.5 million, with a strategic reliance on key customers, including Mercedes-Benz.

Strategic Buy & Build

In the initial 18 months following the acquisition of Mobile Promotions, we orchestrated three strategic bolt-on acquisitions, crafting a comprehensive full-service live events offering: BluePeg: a brand partnership and activation agency with £1.1 million turnover. Beautiful Minds: an event staffing agency contributed a £900,000 turnover. Star Events: a leading UK supplier of stage structures and services, delivering £6.3 million turnover.

Investment in People, Systems & Processes

The journey was marked by substantial investments in people, systems and processes: People: key senior-level appointments, including an FD, a COO who transitioned to become the CEO, and a Chief Commercial Officer enriched the leadership team. Systems: Star Live invested across rental stock and infrastructure, encompassing upgrades in event seating stock, investment in 2 Titan stages and 32 view boxes, plus other general equipment totalling over £4 million, along with a major office refurbishment, a new vehicle fleet, and the adoption of the Sage 200 accounting and ERP system. Processes: individual businesses were seamlessly integrated into one operating structure, delineating clear roles and lines of reporting.

Successful Exit

After 6 years of investment, the business undertook an MBO with the backing of private equity firm LDC. The deal structure resulted in a fantastic outcome with a triple digit return of money for the shareholders on completion.