Acquisition adds more than 100 brands to Informa’s portfolio

Blackstone is selling its international events business, Clarion, for an enterprise value of £2.24 billion.

Best known in the gaming industry as the organiser of the annual ICE expo, Clarion is being acquired by London-listed B2B events company Informa at an enterprise value of £2.24 billion, or 11.1x expected 2027 EBITDA, including certain tax benefits.

The consideration will be paid in cash and funded through dedicated acquisition financing, alongside the net proceeds of a £940 million equity placing and retail offer of Informa shares.

The transaction is expected to complete before the end of this year.

Clarion’s portfolio includes leading events in gaming, defence, technology and energy, with the business forecast to deliver revenue of more £575 million in 2027.

Informa expects to achieve annual operating synergies of £50 million by introducing operating model efficiencies and eliminating duplicated corporate costs, and has also identified significant revenue opportunities, with a targeted run rate of £25 million of additional operating profit through incremental revenue by 2029.

The full run rate of operating and revenue synergies is expected to be delivered by the third full year of ownership in 2029, with around 25 per cent expected to be delivered in the first full year of ownership. One-off costs associated with the delivery of synergies are expected to be in the region of £50 million.

Clarion chief executive officer Lisa Hannant will remain in her role and join Informa’s executive leadership team.

Informa also announced today that it plans to separate its academic markets business, Taylor & Francis, in order to focus Informa on its core B2B business.

Informa CEO Stephen Carter said the combination with Clarion will underscore Informa as the UK-listed, international leader in B2B live events, with annual group revenues exceeding $6 billion and underlying revenue growth of 7 per cent.

He added: “Today’s announcements mark the latest step in a growth strategy that has seen B2B revenues grow tenfold since 2014, whilst generating more than $3 billion of value in Business Intelligence and lifting Taylor & Francis revenues fourfold since it joined the Group.”

Shares in Informa plc. (LSE:INF) were trading 3.81 per cent higher at 894.60 pence per share in London Tuesday morning.