Piers Bearne is an entrepreneur and investor who has built and sold his own media businesses, and who has worked on M&A for major buyers, both as CEO and consultant.

Piers sold his first exhibition business, Rock Media, to Imago Group in 2006. As CEO of Clarion Conferences, he was involved in the sale of Clarion to VSS in 2008. More recently, he sold Tank World Expo to ArtexisEasyfairs, led the sale of TowerXchange to Euromoney and sold SmartRail World to DVV Media International.

As Chairman and shareholder with GFC Media Group, Global Transport Forum, Bio-Based World and World Retail Insights, he works on strategy, resourcing, sales maximisation and value creation in conferences, exhibitions, digital communities and intelligence reports, and co-hosts London’s Media Entrepreneur Meetups.

Piers previously worked on off-market acquisitions for Clarion Events, ITE Group plc and i2i Events Group (now Ascential plc). He has presented target acquisitions to CEOs and Boards, and understands the value drivers and risks from a buyer’s point of view. Through Bio-Based World, he led the acquisition of World Bio Markets from GreenPower Conferences.