Apollo, one of the largest private equity firms in the U.S., just bought Questex and Emerald, two of the largest B2B publishing and events companies in the country, with the express intent of combining them.
It’s a major deal that will impact several brands including cannabis industry publication MJBizDaily and its huge annual conference, MJBizCon. Since Apollo is such a big player and since PE deals are often accompanied by some changes to cost and operational structures, it’s fair to wonder how this transaction could affect the biggest cannabis industry show.
Adam Stettner, CEO and founder of FundCanna, a business loans and financial services provider for the cannabis industry, called Apollo’s acquisition less of a direct bet on cannabis and more a bet on the durability of large-scale B2B event platforms.
“MJBizCon happens to be one of the large assets within that portfolio. What’s notable is not that private equity bought a cannabis related company. It’s that the industry’s largest conference has matured enough to sit inside a broader institutional B2B events strategy alongside mainstream industries and is accepted by a very large financial firm as an acceptable segment of their portfolio,” he said. “Industries still need places where buyers, sellers, investors and operators physically gather. Cannabis is now mature enough that its flagship conference fits naturally into that institutional framework. Eventually I think we will see cannabis specific assets being looked at by large financial firms; this is ancillary, but a good first step.”
Hirsh Jain, founder at Ananda Strategy, a cannabis business consultancy firm, echoed that, saying this deal should be viewed as a sign that institutional investors still believe major in-person business events matter and can remain valuable long term.
“I don't think you see private equity firms making bets like this if they think the entire model is collapsing,” he said.
Shahid Bosan, managing director at Apollo, said as much in his firm’s announcement, noting that professionals are placing increased importance on “in-person gatherings, where industries come together to do business, build relationships and make consequential decisions,” particularly during the rapid rise of AI and other digital tools.
But at the same time, Jain acknowledged that the cannabis industry today is more fragmented, more state-driven and more financially stressed than it was five years ago, possibly pushing cannabis professionals toward regional and more community-oriented events rather than giant national trade shows.
“I think Apollo could absolutely professionalize and strengthen the business side of MJBizCon. Maybe they could build more year-round media and networking infrastructure around it. But in my opinion there is a real question of whether a private equity-backed events platform is naturally positioned to reconnect with an industry that still sees itself as a movement and not just another conventional business sector. And there is also a question about whether big national trade shows represent the future of the industry, or are instead more of a relic of the past,” he said.
