Association for Corporate Growth Cancels Its Largest Dealmaking Event
ACG announced that the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has forced the cancelation of the organization's largest event, InterGrowth, originally scheduled for April in Miami.
The Association for Corporate Growth® (ACG), the global dealmaking network, today announced that COVID-19 has forced the cancelation of its largest event, InterGrowth, scheduled for April in Miami.
ACG planned to celebrate its 50th InterGrowth this year at Fontainebleau Miami Beach. The annual three-day meeting regularly attracts up to 2,000 middle-market M&A deal-makers. Though most of InterGrowth’s attendees hail from the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom, it’s drawn eventgoers from more than 15 countries found in North America, South America, Europe, Asia and Africa.
“InterGrowth is an intercontinental meeting,” said Tom Bohn, President and CEO of ACG. “It is the largest and most effective venue for M&A deal–makers. Its size and the caliber of the attendees make it attractive and successful year after year. Unfortunately, its size puts its attendees’ health at significant risk, as well as the state of Florida and every community to and from attendees will travel.”
Following the United States issuing a national emergency in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, ACG canceled InterGrowth scheduled to take place in Las Vegas last April.
“This year and last year, the cancelation of InterGrowth was both unavoidable and necessary for ACG to protect its patrons, sponsors and members of the general public. Current gathering restrictions and the risk to public health because of COVID-19 prevent ACG from delivering an InterGrowth experience commensurate with attendee expectations and one that respects the collective communities to and from which attendees travel,” Bohn said.
ACG weighed a virtual or hybrid alternative. Attendees regularly schedule dozens of face-to-face and one-on-one business meetings via ACG DealSource®, in the InterGrowth Lounge, they meet with private equity firms through ACG Capital Connection® and mingle at large networking events that reacquaint old friends and make new ones; all are integral facets of the three-day InterGrowth experience.
“Tapering elements of the InterGrowth experience diminishes the efficacy of the business investment,” said Bohn. “ACG stands in solidarity with the thousands of companies who have travel bans in place to limit their employee exposure to COVID-19. No one wants to host a superspreader event and everyone wants businesses to return normal.”
InterGrowth is scheduled to return to the Aria Resort in Las Vegas in April 2022. More information about ACG’s InterGrowth can be found here.
