Maritz Travel, a global leader in providing full-service meeting, event and incentive travel programs to corporate clients, today announced it has acquired Experient, another top provider of meeting and event services to associations, tradeshows, corporations and the US government. As two of the largest and most respected companies in the meetings and events industry, Maritz and Experient now will expand their collective ability to deliver a full range of exceptional event experiences.

JEGI CLARITY (www.jegiclarity.com) of New York, NY, the leading independent investment bank for the media, information, marketing services, and technology sectors, represented Experient, a portfolio company of Riverside Company and VSS Communications Partners, in this transaction and acted as its exclusive financial advisor.

“As a result of this deal, Maritz Travel will lead the industry in four key areas – corporate, association, tradeshow and strategic meetings management. Coming together this way will fuel our shared objective to grow in the markets we serve,” said David Peckinpaugh, President of Maritz Travel. “By combining, we will expand the capabilities we bring to clients beyond what either of us might offer independently.”

Maritz’ end-to-end service delivery model will be enhanced by Experient’s ability to provide additional full and select services (including registration, housing, site sourcing/contract negotiation and lead retrieval). As a result, the combined companies will be able to tailor services that better align with clients’ specific needs. Clients also will benefit from 12 regional locations, deepened industry influence and the ability to serve clients across corporate, association, tradeshow and government markets.

Maritz Travel and Experient are long-time leaders in the business events industry. While individually they represent significant business event market share — and lead industry innovations such as a model approach for client- and audience-centric experiences — together, they are even stronger. In 2011, their combined impact represented more than $2 billion in industry volume spend and nearly 3 million travelers served.

“Both Maritz Travel and Experient have been stable and innovative forces on behalf of our clients over the challenges of the last few years,” said Peckinpaugh. “The event industry has had to evolve as a result of a volatile business environment. Spend is returning to pre-recession levels, and together Maritz Travel and Experient are leading the market in delivering the flexibility and range of services organizations need to achieve growing and increasingly aggressive business results.”

“This is a great day for Experient employees and our clients. I’m particularly excited about the cultural fit between Maritz and Experient,” said Jeff Price, CEO of Experient, who has shepherded this acquisition by Maritz Travel. “Our companies share core values, especially our commitment to helping clients achieve better business value by delivering exceptional event experiences for their participants.”