Reed Exhibitions announced Friday the acquisition of Santos Offshore Oil & Gas Expo. The investment comes as the latest addition to a growing number of events in Reed’s global energy portfolio. Held in the port city of Santos in Sao Paulo State, Santos Offshore enjoys a key geographic position.

Brazil continues to develop the extensive Pre-salt oil and gas reserves in the Santos Basin and their largest energy company Petrobras and others are rapidly expanding their infrastructure and engineering presence in the city.

Santos Offshore Oil & Gas Expo has been held in Santos City since its 2007 launch. When it opens in October 2011, it will present 7,000nsm of exhibits and is expected to attract 18,000 visitors. The event has grown 20% in its last two editions.

Working in close partnership with the Brazilian Institute of Petroleum (IBP), Reed Exhibitions Brazil will immediately begin developing world-class content and customer value for exhibitors and attendees alike.

Globally, Reed Exhibitions produces a total of 16 upstream oil and gas and renewable energy events. The Santos Offshore event joins a wider global portfolio that includes Offshore Europe, All Energy (UK) and the World Future Energy Summit (Abu Dhabi).

In South America the event lines up alongside Brasil Offshore (Macae) and Protection Offshore (Rio de Janeiro) in Reed Brazil’s upstream energy group and Fenasucro (Ribeira Preto), Sucronor (Recife) and Agrocana (Ribeira Preto) in the ethanol sector.

Commenting on the investment, Juan Pablo de Vera, President of Reed Exhibitions Brazil, stated; “All of Reed’s staff will join with colleagues at IBP to maximize this exciting opportunity to support the continuing growth of Brazil’s oil and gas industry.”

“Reed will strive to make Santos a special part of its global energy portfolio, helping customers from around the world to discover a new market in Santos,” said Vera.

Reed Exhibitions is a division of Reed Elsevier plc, a world leading provider of professional information and workflow solutions in the Science, Legal, Medical, Risk Management and Business sectors.

Based in over 200 locations worldwide, it creates authoritative content delivered through market leading brands, enabling their customers to find the essential data, analysis and commentary to support their decisions. In 2010, Reed Elsevier made an adjusted profit before taxation of £1,279 million on turnover of £6,055 million.