M&A Deal Summary

Viad Acquires The Becker Group

On January 8, 2008, Viad acquired marketing company The Becker Group from Sterling Partners Private Equity

Acquisition Highlights
  • This is Viad’s 1st transaction in the Marketing sector.
  • This is Viad’s 1st transaction in the United States.
  • This is Viad’s 1st transaction in Maryland.

M&A Deal Summary
Date 2008-01-08
Target The Becker Group
Sector Marketing
Buyer(s) Viad
Sellers(s) Sterling Partners Private Equity
Deal Type Add-on Acquisition

Target

The Becker Group

North Baltimore, Maryland, United States
The Becker Group, Ltd. is an experiential marketing company specializing in creating immersive, entertaining attractions and brand-based experiences for clients and venues, including retail centers, movie studios, museums, leading consumer brands and casinos.

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Buyer(S) 1

Buyer

Viad

Scottsdale, Arizona, United States
Category Company
Founded 1926
Sector Business Services
Employees1,697
Revenue 1.2B USD (2023)
DESCRIPTION

Viad operates through two businesses: Pursuit and GES. Pursuit is a collection of attractions, lodges and hotels, and sightseeing tours in iconic locations. GES is a full-service live events company serving 70% of the Fortune 1000 in 75+ countries. Viad was founded in 1926 and is based in Phoenix, Arizona.

DEAL STATS #
Overall 1 of 14
Sector (Marketing) 1 of 1
Type (Add-on Acquisition) 1 of 13
State (Maryland) 1 of 1
Country (United States) 1 of 10
Year (2008) 1 of 1
FOLLOWING DEAL
DATE TARGET DEAL TYPE VALUE
2011-01-06 Grouse Mountain Lodge

Whitefish, Montana, United States

Grouse Mountain Lodge is a 145 room, four-season resort hotel located in Whitefish, Montana. The hotel is situated adjacent to the Whitefish Lake Golf Club and in close proximity to Glacier National Park and Whitefish Mountain Resort, a year-round mountain resort destination offering downhill skiing, snowboarding and an alpine slide during the winter season and mountain biking, a zip line course and canopy tour in the summer and shoulder seasons.

Buy -

Seller(S) 1

SELLER

Sterling Partners Private Equity

Investor Investor Investor Investor Investor

Category Private Equity Firm
Founded 1983
PE ASSETS 5.0B USD
Size Mega
Type Sector Agnostic
DESCRIPTION

Sterling Partners Private Equity is the private equity arm of asset management firm Sterling Partners. Sterling Partners Private Equityis focused on investing in small to medium-sized companies positioned for growth, either organically or through acquisitions. Sterling has a strong interest in businesses with differentiated products, defensible competitive positions, recurring revenues, and diversified customers. The Firm's target equity commitment size is $5 to $175 million. Broad sectors of interest include direct marketing, education, specialty distribution, specialty manufacturing, healthcare, technology, and business services. Sterling Partners was formed in 1983 and is based in Chicago, Illinois.

DEAL STATS #
Overall 9 of 51
Sector (Marketing) 2 of 6
Type (Add-on Acquisition) 6 of 34
State (Maryland) 3 of 9
Country (United States) 9 of 49
Year (2008) 1 of 4
PREVIOUS DEAL
DATE TARGET DEAL TYPE VALUE
2007-12-02 Foundations Recovery Network

Memphis, Tennessee, United States

Foundations Recovery Network LLC (Formerly Dual Diagnosis Management LLC) is a provider of behavioral healthcare services for people dually diagnosed with both a mental health and substance abuse disorder.

Buy -
FOLLOWING DEAL
DATE TARGET DEAL TYPE VALUE
2008-02-05 Ecovation

Victor, New York, United States

Ecovation, Inc. is an environmental services company with proprietary technology to clean organic waste streams.

Sell $170M
Mergr

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