Event Tech Leaders Cvent and Lanyon Announce Merger

Cvent and Lanyon Solutions announced yesterday that the two event technology companies had merged, effective immediately, and would operate under the Cvent name moving forward.

The merger follows the completed acquisition of Cvent by Vista Equity Partners, which had already owned Lanyon.

The backdrop for the marriage of the two event technology companies began two weeks ago when Cvent and private equity firm Vista Equity Partners received notification from the U.S. Department of Justice that regulators would not stand in the way of the merger on antitrust grounds.

That cleared the way to merge Cvent with Lanyon. Together, the companies have more than 800 technology professionals and more than 700 customer-facing support staff.

Cvent founder and CEO Reggie Aggarwal will be the CEO of the new combined company, while Lanyon CEO David Bonnette is said to be working with the management team through the transition. The company will be based in Tysons Corner, Virginia.

"We celebrate two new milestones today as we formally join the Vista family and merge with our highly-regarded peer, Lanyon," said Aggarwal in a statement. "Combined under the Cvent umbrella, and with Vista's powerful backing, we will draw on our decades of experience to push the boundaries of event technology innovation and remain focused on delivering outstanding technology, capabilities and service to the events industry."

The impact of the merger in the immediate future is unclear, and the newly formed Cvent will continue to offer all existing Lanyon products and services. However, the Cvent/Lanyon enterprise now owns between 80-90 percent of the online event management space, so there are a lot of duplications that will likely result in significant employee and product reshuffling in the coming months.

Aggarwal, in this Q&A with Meetings and Conventions, stated that Vista's $20 billion fund opens up opportunities to ramp up Cvent's global expansion plans. In 2017, the company will open new offices in Singapore and possibly Sydney, and it will expand its operations out of London.