Ground transportation provider BostonCoach last month announced the purchase of destination management company The Best of Boston, an unusual pairing driven by BostonCoach's desire to grab a larger share of what their executives see as a burgeoning meetings market.
Terms of the sale were not disclosed, but the firms said The Best of Boston's co-founders Ellen Burnett and Linda Simon and the company's senior management team will stay on board to operate it as "an independent business unit."
Founded in 1982, The Best of Boston ranks among the top 10 DMCs in the nation based on annual revenue, according to Meeting Professionals International.
"As BostonCoach continues to diversify its product and service offering, we felt that DMC capabilities would strengthen our competitive position," said BostonCoach CEO Jonathan Danforth. "We decided to purchase The Best of Boston because it's a financially stable and recognized industry leader with strong vendor and network relationships and a proven ability to build market share. Additionally, it has a strong track record of profitability, and it's run by an experienced management team with deep knowledge and expertise in an attractive market," he explained.
With BostonCoach's resources, he said, The Best of Boston will be "well-positioned to maximize growth opportunities in this market and generate an attractive return on our investment."
The two companies, Danforth said, have extensive operating knowledge of the Boston market. "We believe the alignment of these two companies represents a powerful combination that will provide superior single-source service to association and corporate meeting and event planners in the region," he said.
Danforth in April was appointed president and CEO of BostonCoach
(BTN, April 18), and has a long résumé in the meetings industry as the former president of the Navigant Performance Group and founder of Incentive Strategies, a sales incentive company, and Destination Management Inc., a meeting planning company. He later merged the two into Cornerstone Enterprises, which Navigant bought in 1999.
The acquisition comes at a high point in the development of Boston's hospitality industry, Danforth said, one that made the DMC market an attractive one to explore. "Boston has invested in a new convention center, and also in hotels, airport and ground transportation, shifting its competitive position as a destination by increasing its meetings and convention capacity from 22nd to fifth in the U.S. over the past five years," Danforth said. The Best of Boston's extensive local knowledge and expertise, with BostonCoach's resources, he surmised, place it in a good position to "take advantage of these favorable market dynamics."
The Best of Boston's Burnett agreed. "Under BostonCoach's ownership, The Best of Boston now will have the resources and focus necessary to enable us to take advantage of the growth happening in this market, as well as to ensure we continue to be the leading DMC here," she said. Also, The Best of Boston can benefit from the strength of Boston Coach's brand, its technology infrastructure, its corporate relationships and its distribution channels, she said.
Linda Simon, The Best of Boston's co-founder and executive vice president, said the destination management company believed the acquisition to be "an excellent fit" based on how "BostonCoach shares our absolute commitment to quality and customer service."
The sale will give both BostonCoach and The Best of Boston a competitive leg up in their respective industries, their executives said.
"Clearly, we think the partnership between these two entities provides each with a competitive edge within its own industry," Danforth said. Burnett added, "Our alignment with BostonCoach will give us a leg up on the competition because of the additional resources now available to us, and we will be able to provide our customers with a single source for service that other providers can't supply."
Even though the two companies will continue to operate as independent entities, "BostonCoach may leverage its own managerial, financial and technological expertise and that of its parent, Fidelity Capital, where appropriate to assist The Best of Boston's management in pursuing strategic initiatives," according to Danforth, "and for The Best of Boston to leverage BostonCoach's extensive corporate relationships."