Exhibitions and conferences counter Expomedia, recommended by Growth Company Investor at 137.5p in 2005, has completed its biggest acquisition to date, buying property events company Homebuyer Events in a deal capped at £16m.

Homebuyer, boasting a property buyer database in excess of 70,000 individuals, organises the UK’s biggest residential property exhibitions, The Property Investor Show and the Homebuyer Show, which are held around the country in venues including ExCel in London, the NEC in Birmingham and the GMEX in Manchester. The London events each attract more than 250 exhibitors and as many as 14,000 visitors.

Analysts see Homebuyer as a savvy acquisition for Expomedia, led by enthusiastic chief executive Mark Shashoua, which continues to look for leading brands and topical exhibitions to acquire. Profitable Homebuyer builds on an existing portfolio of real estate events in Warsaw as well as real estate conferences in Russia, India and Poland.

‘It is the leading brand in its industry sector,’ purred Shashoua, ‘and due to the international base of the exhibition, these shows demonstrate the apposite qualities to allow replication into Russia, India and Germany’. He believes the acquisition ‘adds to our robust portfolio of events’ including MaceLive Expo, The Surface Design Show and The Daily Telegraph Adventure Travel Show.

For calendar 2007, Charles Stanley’s Ben Archer envisages Expomedia moving from losses of €600,000 (£408,000) to pre-tax profits of €1.1m (£750,000) from a dramatic top-line improvement to €32.5m (£22.2m). The following year, investors might expect €3.5m at the pre-tax line from sales of €41.3m. On those estimates (unchanged as yet following the Homebuyer deal), Expomedia is trading on an exceptionally lofty forward p/e of 95, dropping to a more palatable 29 for 2008.

We believe the shares, trading south of our recommendation levels, offer an intriguing longer-term recovery punt. Time to top up holdings.