Douglas Emslie, the chief executive of business-to-business media and exhibitions group Tarsus (LON:TRS), has been waiting 13 years for the right moment to get a foothold in the strategic Turkish market. With an improving economy, a strengthening share price and a strategy now focused on emerging market opportunities, Emslie has finally made his move.

In May, Tarsus set out plans to buy IFO, one of Turkey’s largest events operators, in a £10 million deal that has just been approved by shareholders. The acquisition is the largest that the £110 million cap company has made since before the credit crunch signalling increasing confidence in the global economic rebound. The move is being funded with a £16 million share placing with an element of the new cash earmarked for bolt-on purchases to further consolidate fragmented markets.

Tarsus is already enjoying significant success with businesses as diverse as labelling in Europe and discount clothing in America but latterly opportunities in emerging markets have become the focus, where the company is on course to derive half its revenues from by 2013. For Emslie, IFO is the latest in a series of international acquisitions designed to profit from sectors and geographies undergoing fundamental market changes.

With the IFO deal on the cusp of completion, Emslie is aiming to take advantage of improving economic conditions to leverage the company’s portfolio into a position of strength in its key markets. If the Tarsus management team can continue to grow the business internationally in an earnings enhancing fashion, the current valuation discount to its peers may increasingly be questioned. Tarsus currently trades on a 2011 P/E multiple of just over 9 times consensus 2011 forecast earnings compared to 16 times for UK listed peer ITE (LON:ITE).

Douglas, Tarsus has spent the last 13 years building a portfolio of events and media businesses. Can you give me an overview of your portfolio and the company’s growth strategy over that time?

We originally came from Blenheim, which was the largest independent exhibition organiser in the world and which got sold to United Business Media (LON:UBM) for £600 million in 1996. Blenheim was a business with over 250 exhibitions in 50 market sectors in over 20 countries. What we wanted…

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