Time to put on a show for Blackstone

NEC Group's new leadership team in a race to make up for lost time

Six years ago yesterday, Blackstone completed the £800m purchase of the NEC Group from LDC.

It was a great exit for LDC, which had bought the company from Birmingham City Council for £307m just three years earlier.

But it was also meant to be a great entry for Blackstone.

NEC Group’s activities were, and are again (more on that later), almost entirely physically focused on Birmingham and the West Midlands.

The National Indoor Arena / Barclaycard Arena / Utilita Arena and the International Convention Centre in the city centre, and the NEC campus and the accompanying arena (variously known as Birmingham International Arena, NEC Arena, LG Arena, Genting Arena, Resorts World Arena, and bp pulse LIVE) next to Birmingham Airport are home to most of the region’s major events.

When Blackstone agreed the deal, it was looking to jump aboard a Birmingham bandwagon…