Convene, a U.S. hospitality company that designs and manages premium meeting, event, and flexible office spaces, has acquired etc.venues, a leader in urban day conferencing with venues across the United Kingdom in London, Manchester, and Birmingham, and in New York City.

The acquisition adds 16 new venues to the Convene portfolio, which now includes 38 locations in nine major cities: New York City, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Washington DC, Boston and Chicago in the US, and London, Birmingham, and Manchester in the UK.

“Convene and etc.venues are two distinct and established leaders in the meetings and events industry, bringing them together creates an unparalleled global offering,” said Richard Baker, governor, CEO, and executive chairman of Hudson’s Bay Company, Convene’s majority shareholder and chairman. “We are pleased to offer nearly 40 venues across the joint portfolio and are confident this newly-combined organization will benefit clients, landlords and shareholders alike, especially as we set our sights on further international expansion opportunities.”

Founded in 1992, etc.venues has a 450,000-square-foot real estate portfolio spanning 13 UK locations and three New York outposts. In 2019, the company served over 3,100 clients and more than one million delegates across 19,000 events.

Convene was founded in 2009 with the goal of bringing hospitality and lifestyle into traditional commercial real estate assets. Its corporate meeting and event spaces offer everything needed for a turnkey experience, including: thoughtfully-designed spaces to maximize collaboration and productivity, full-service production services, catering, and a dedicated audio-visual team for in-room and hybrid tech support.

“The London and New York City markets continue to rebound at a tremendous pace post-COVID with demand for outsourced premium meeting and event solutions accelerating from clients and landlords alike,” said Ryan Simonetti, CEO and co-founder of Convene. “The talented team at etc.venues, led by Alastair Stewart and Nick Hoare, managing director, has built an incredible buisness across the UK and New York for over 30 years; the acquisition of an organization with such an unwavering commitment to delivering high-quality meeting and event experiences allows Convene to expand our ability to serve our clients in more places and exciting new ways.”

This acquisition comes on the heels of Convene merging with SaksWorks in 2022, and announcing its new San Francisco location opening this year. Since its founding, Convene has met the meeting and events needs of more than 4,000 companies around the world.