LIWLIG completes a major milestone in its Nordic expansion by acquiring Danish event agency Welcome A/S

The leading event agency group in the Nordics, LIWLIG, has acquired Danish event agency Welcome A/S, one of the largest event agencies in Denmark, with revenue of around €6 million. Welcome provides event and meeting services for most industries, with special emphasis on the healthcare, IT, finance, industry and shipping industries. The acquisition is an important strategic milestone for LIWLIG Group in its Nordic expansion, as it enters the Danish market, and thus has operations in Finland, Sweden, Norway and Denmark. Welcome’s owners will continue working in the company, while becoming shareholders of the LIWLIG Group.

Welcome joins Finnish and Swedish market leaders Tapaus and Eventyr Nine Yards in the LIWLIG Group, as well as previously acquired Norwegian 6. Sans. LIWLIG Group event agencies produce over 1 000 events in around 50 countries yearly. The group aims to reach an annual revenue of around €100m in 2023, and it has around 260 employees.

Welcome will provide new services within LIWLIG Group in the form of facilitated events, which will be available in all the Nordic markets. In addition, the acquisition brings the global competencies of LIWLIG Group to Welcome’s clients, bringing a real competitive advantage in a Danish market mostly populated by local event agencies.

“We are incredibly excited to announce this strategic milestone, and finally being able to call LIWLIG a truly Nordic event agency group. Welcome is a great fit from cultural, management and business perspectives, strengthening the whole LIWLIG Group and giving us the perfect entrance into the Danish market. With this talent, we can offer unmatched creative event services for our customers, in the Nordics and all around the world, says Timo Aalto, Managing Director and CEO of Tapaus & LIWLIG Group.

“This is the perfect match at the perfect time for Welcome. We have seen increasing internationalization from our customers for some years, and as part of LIWLIG Group, we can offer more global event services. We are very much looking forward to becoming part of LIWLIG Group’s ambitious growth plans and contributing with our knowhow – in addition to being able to serve our customers even better”, says Jannik Seifert, Partner at Welcome.

The pandemic made events more important than ever – with no growth limits in sight

After the initial shock of the COVID-19 pandemic paved the way for a drastic decrease in physical events and the rise of virtual events, the event marketing industry has bounced back. LIWLIG Group has grown significantly, gaining more customers and projects, recruiting new employees and continued strategic investments.

“You could say the pandemic was the best and worst thing that could have happened to the event industry. Companies used to take events for granted before, but when pandemic made in-person events impossible, businesses really understood how important these gatherings actually were in creating engagement, commitment and trust among people. Now, events are more popular than ever, as companies have rediscovered the value of in-person meetings between colleagues, customers and other stakeholders”, Timo Aalto continues.

LIWLIG Group on track to becoming the first carbon-negative event agency in the Nordics

In addition to becoming the largest and leading event agency in the Nordics, LIWLIG Group is also showing the way regarding sustainable development. The company’s carbon footprint related to its own operations and offices is already carbon neutral. Around 50% of LIWLIG arranged customer events are now compensated with a goal to reach 100% by the year 2025. As the only event agency in the Nordics, the group has developed an emission calculator to identify climate impacts of event productions. In addition, LIWLIG also has a re-use rate calculator for calculating how much material can be reused and recycled, as well as a guide to low-emission event production, available to anyone who wishes to use them on the company website.

“We want to be a pioneer in the event industry and make it more sustainable with solutions that really work. The days where event materials were thrown away after a single use are long gone - nowadays an increasing amount of materials can be recycled and reused. Every industry needs to do its part to tackle the challenge of climate change, and this at LIWLIG Group, we want to be part of the solution, not the problem,” Timo Aalto concludes.