Platinum Equity buys Czarnowski Collective, backing events growth

Platinum Equity has completed the purchase of experiential marketing group Czarnowski Collective, a long-standing provider of trade-show exhibits, event production and live-experience services. The deal marks a private-equity entry into a highly fragmented segment of corporate marketing where in-person engagement is regaining traction.

The seller was the Nagle family; founder and current CEO Mark Nagle will move to chairman emeritus as part of the ownership transition. Management succession is immediate: Jim Milanowski, today president, will be elevated to chief executive to lead the next phase of growth under new ownership.

Jacob Kotzubei, Co-President at Platinum Equity, framed the acquisition as a bet on rising client budgets for live experiences and integrated event programs. Dan Krasner, a Managing Director at the firm, highlighted the platform potential to consolidate specialist regional players and to add technology-enabled services that multinational clients increasingly demand.

Czarnowski Collective, founded in 1947 and based in Chicago, combines creative strategy, exhibit fabrication, asset rental, logistics and onsite services. The company's integrated model positions it to capture more complex assignments from corporate marketers and trade associations. In many developed markets, experiential spend is shifting back into live channels after pandemic disruptions, creating higher willingness to pay for full-service providers.

From a market perspective, corporate events and trade-show services sit inside a multi-billion-dollar, globally fragmented professional-services market. Private equity has been active with roll-up strategies in adjacent categories — from production houses to event-tech platforms — and the acquisition follows that playbook: scale via operational improvements and targeted add-ons. Platinum Equity brings a record of operational carve-outs and integrations, alongside roughly $50 billion of assets under management and a long history of industry roll-ups.

Leadership and capability investments are central to the buyer’s plan. Management flagged priorities including upgrading booking and asset-management systems, expanding creative and digital activation capabilities, and selectively pursuing tuck-in acquisitions to extend geographic reach. The firm will also lean on Platinum’s M&A and operations playbook to accelerate cross-selling into international accounts.

The transaction involved sell-side and buy-side advisors; while terms were not disclosed, Platinum’s acquisition underlines a broader trend: investors are seeking scale in service-led event businesses that combine physical production with design and logistics. For clients — and for the workforce of designers, fabricators and field crews — the deal promises fresh capital to modernise operations and deepen service offerings.

As the live-experience market evolves, the key questions will be how quickly the new owner executes systems upgrades, integrates add-ons and preserves the client-facing culture that long-time customers value. For now, the acquisition gives Czarnowski a pathway to scale with private-equity backing and sets a template for further consolidation in the experiential events space.