09 Sep 03. Reed Exhibitions announced today that it has acquired Spearhead Exhibitions. The agreement represents a further, significant step forward as part of Reed’s strategy to grow its business and build on the company’s existing strengths.

Spearhead Exhibitions organises a total of 11 events in 3 main industry sectors – aerospace and defence, oil and gas and marine science and ocean technology. Within these sectors, the 3 key shows comprise DSEi (Defence Systems and Equipment International), Offshore Europe and Oceanology International.

The addition of the DSEi, Helitech and Helitech Latin America events will significantly enhance Reed’s aerospace and defence portfolio, which will now total 7 international events worldwide, including Asian Aerospace and Latin American Aero & Defence, (LAAD). DSEi is now the world’s largest and fastest growing integrated aerospace, land and maritime defence event.

Offshore oil and gas and marine science and ocean technology are new industry sectors to Reed. Offshore Europe, based in Aberdeen, has been a sell-out for the past 10 years and is a partnership with the Dallas-based Society of Petroleum Engineers. Oceanology International has relocated to ExCel from Brighton, which will allow further growth for this world-leading event.

Bob Munton, Chief Executive of Spearhead Exhibitions said, “Spearhead Exhibitions views this as a very positive step forward. It is the logical conclusion to the management buyout on which we embarked two years ago. The strengths of Reed Exhibitions and its international network are highly complementary and will enable us to build on our current success.”