Groupe Eventeam buys major sporting events agency Keneo

French events group Eventeam has acquired Keneo, an agency that advises on, designs and delivers major sporting events, including the bid files cities and federations use to win them. LÉVÉNEMENT reported the deal. Terms were not disclosed.

Keneo works for sports bodies, territories, institutions and rights holders, and brings strategic consulting and international development skills that Eventeam only partly had.

Eventeam has been operating for more than 25 years and is led by president and CEO Igor Juzon. Keneo joins its two existing agencies: Eventeam Live, which covers hospitality, corporate events and sports marketing, and Hémisphères, which organises trips around major sporting and cultural events.

Former Keneo president Vincent de Bary becomes managing director of development, with Karim Herida as Keneo's managing director and Frédéric Sanaur as executive director.

The group's goals are to become a leading French and European major events player, a go-to partner for local authorities and public bodies, and a bigger force in professional sport. Juzon summed up the approach: "Notre ambition est de faire grandir une maison d'entrepreneurs" (our ambition is to grow a house of entrepreneurs).

Sources: LÉVÉNEMENT