Apollo Acquires Emerald in $1.5B Deal: What’s Next for MJBizCon?

LOS ANGELES – Apollo Global Management Inc., one of the world’s most powerful alternative asset firms, announced that its managed funds have entered into definitive agreements to acquire Emerald Holding, Inc., the owner of MJBizCon and MJBizDaily, in an all-cash transaction valued at roughly $1.5 billion. The deal will take Emerald off the New York Stock Exchange entirely, converting it into a private company.

In a concurrent move, Apollo also signed a separate agreement to acquire Questex LLC, a B2B events and publishing company, with the stated intent to combine both businesses into what it describes as a leading North American B2B experiential events and media platform, one that would span approximately 160 events across complementary industries. MJBizCon is one asset within that larger machine.

Apollo manages more than $1 trillion in assets, and the logic behind this deal reads plainly as a consolidation play in B2B media and events, not a sectoral conviction in Cannabis. Apollo is not investing in Cannabis directly. It is investing in the architecture surrounding it. That distinction has real consequences for how MJBizCon gets managed going forward.

The acquisition is less of a direct bet on Cannabis and more a bet on the durability of large-scale B2B event platforms.

For Cannabis operators, that framing matters. MJBizCon has served since 2011 as the industry’s most visible annual gathering – the place where licensing attorneys meet MSOs, where investors walk the floor next to first-year cultivators, and where the informal deal pipeline runs as fast as the formal one. The show remains a central meeting place for operators, brands, investors, service providers, and dealmakers. There’s more at stake than just a revenue line if the event weakens. The industry would lose one of its largest commercial convening points.

What’s Apollo actually buying? A marquee brand with real power, but one that has been contracting within a publicly traded company that was never fully focused on serving the specific regulatory and reputational complexities of the Cannabis industry.

Both acquisitions are expected to close in H2 2026, pending shareholder and regulatory approval. Until then, Emerald operates under its current structure, and MJBizCon’s December 2026 edition in Las Vegas is still scheduled to proceed as planned.

From where the industry stands in mid-2026, this deal is neither a rescue nor a red flag. Apollo could bring operational discipline, fresh capital for marketing or digital extensions, professionalize and strengthen the business side of MJBizCon, potentially building more year-round media and networking infrastructure around it. On the other hand, a Cannabis-specific trade show sitting inside a 160-event portfolio managed by a firm with no stated sectoral interest in the plant presents obvious questions about editorial independence, resource allocation, and whether the show will retain the industry-specific fluency that makes it useful to attendees in the first place.

The industry’s most important annual gathering will keep its name, keep its floor space in Las Vegas, and keep its role as the place where deals get done. What changes is… Who answers the phone when exhibitors call, and what metrics they use to decide whether MJBizCon earns its place in the portfolio.