Event services company Encore has filed a registration statement with
the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for a proposed initial public
offering. The company is seeking to raise an estimated $500 million,
according to Renaissance Capital, in an effort to reduce its long-term
debt of $2.3 billion. The company will be listed on the New York Stock
Exchange as 'ECR.'
In the filing, dated 10 April, the Blackstone-backed company
disclosed financial losses for three consecutive years from 2023 to
2025. For the 2025 fiscal year, Encore recorded a net loss of $27.2
million with revenue totaling $3.4 billion, compared to a net loss of
$176.1 million on revenue of $3.2 billion a year prior.
Encore
provides live event production and audiovisual technology for business
events and meetings, largely through preferred supplier agreements with
venues and master service agreements with hotel chains including
Accor, Hilton, Hyatt, IHG and Marriott.
"We sign contracts at the
individual venue for each of our approximately 2,200 venues whereby they
establish Encore as the exclusive on-site provider of event
technologies in that property," Encore explained in the filing. "While
these contracts do not preclude outside event technology providers
coming into the venues to support individual events, and event planners
retain the option to use outside providers, the contracts do prevent
non-Encore team members and technology from being in-house at these
venues."
Throughout the prospectus, Encore detailed the growing
importance of in-person meetings in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic,
and said average event spend in its core market (hotel-based corporate
events) has increased at a compound annual growth rate of 8 percent to
10 percent since 2019.
The company also reported an 88 percent
increase in average revenue per event from 2019 to 2025, citing "widespread adoption by customers across its venue partners with an 80
percent capture rate." To capture the remaining 20 percent, the company
said it has launched a strategic plan for venue partners that
includes "commission-aligned incentives" and "local decision authority
to speed approvals," according to the SEC filing.
The
Illinois-based company has a strong presence in the U.S., while its global
footprint includes more than 800 venues across 23 countries. It acquired
UK-based event production company Eclipse in 2025 to grow its presence
in the UK, and also has plans to expand in "high-growth markets" such as
Spain and Singapore.
This is the second IPO attempt by Encore
following a previous filing in 2016, when it was then known as PSAV.
Blackstone later acquired the business in 2018 and rebranded it as
Encore in 2021.
Industry stakeholders raise concerns
Following news of Encore’s IPO intentions, industry stakeholders this week took to social media to raise their concerns.
Alisa
Stewart, senior global event strategist at meetings and events agency
Maritz, warned Encore's IPO could further drive up AV prices in an
already inflated market.
"The pricing pressure flowing to your
groups isn't easing – it's intensifying," she said in a LinkedIn post. "When a company goes public, prices go up. It's a pattern, not a
prediction."
Biogen meetings and events category manager Andrea Hoag, added: "I don't see how this dynamic [pressure from
shareholders as a publicly-listed company] will be good for the
planners, but it was bound to happen eventually. My prediction: watch
for more aggressive exclusivity enforcement with hotel chains because
any impact to strategic partnerships will have to be disclosed during
earnings calls."
Lauren Rios, VP of sales and marketing at events
agency Platinum XP, also commented: "The incentive structure on the
venue side often outweighs what’s actually best for the production
itself. More transparency like this [through quarterly earnings calls]
only helps everyone make informed decisions."