Despite ‘Significant Impact’ of Middle East Wars, Art Basel Parent Group’s First Half 2026 Revenue Climbed 12 Percent

MCH Group, parent company to the Art Basel fair franchise, saw its operating revenue increase by 12 percent in the first half of 2026, to CHF 248.8 million ($301.6 million). It was the fourth consecutive positive half-year result, according to a statement. The company also saw EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization) rise to CHF 34.3 million ($41.6 million). The Art Basel fairs are among the flagship events for the company, which also organizes fairs catering to industries ranging from construction to gardening to wristwatches and jewelry.

“This growth is the result of a semester marked by the successful launch of Art Basel Qatar and delivering important events for LMS and Exhibitions & Events like CONEXPO and Swissbau,” says the announcement; those latter fairs focus on the construction industry. Art Basel’s first edition in Doha arrived in February; at 87 dealers, it was a far smaller event than the fair’s editions in Basel, Hong Kong, Miami Beach, and Paris. The fair soldiered forth despite Israeli airstrikes in Doha the previous September, part of Israel and the US’s ongoing war on Iran. Dealers speaking to ARTnews rated the fair a success though sales were slow.

The company’s business was “significantly impacted” by Middle East violence, says the announcement, “with clients cancelling all live events from the beginning of March,” adding that the landscape “has since gradually improved,” with activities returning to normal in the fourth quarter, “albeit with a focus on local audiences.”

The company pulled off this increase amid a challenging context marked not only by wars in the Middle East but also by trade wars that affected booth building costs, says the company, as well as an art market that slowed considerably from its highs earlier in the decade. But Art Basel Hong Kong “delivered a successful edition,” says the statement. That edition of the fair, in March, saw blue-chip dealers finding buyers for seven-figure works, while other dealers lamented “slower than usual” sales, participants told ARTnews.

“The first half of 2026 has shown that the steps we have taken are delivering results—with Art Basel Qatar, we have opened up a new growth region, while our business as a whole has once again demonstrated its strength and resilience,” said Andrea Zappia, CEO and chairman of MCH Group, in the announcement.

Squeaking in just under the wire in the first half of the year was the company’s June 25 announcement of a 20 percent stake in a new venture, the Jupiter Festival, with its inaugural edition slated for October in Miami.