LONDON (dpa-AFX) - Informa PLC (INF.L, INFMF.PK), a British publishing and exhibitions company, said on Tuesday that it has decided to buy Clarion Events for £2.24 billion in cash from Blackstone Inc. (BX) to boost Informa's B2B Live Events business.
The consideration will be funded through acquisition financing and net proceeds of around £940 million from equity placing. This will comprise the issue of new shares of 0.1 pence in the capital of the company through a non-pre-emptive placing of up to around £940 million to eligible investors and a retail offer via RetailBook for retail investors. In addition, certain management team of the company will subscribe for the shares, representing up to £1.6 million of shares.
Commenting on the acquisition, Informa, said: 'The addition is expected to deliver mid-single digit adjusted diluted EPS enhancement in 2027 and double-digit post-tax return on invested capital within three years, ahead of Informa's WACC.'
The transaction is expected to be completed towards the end of the fourth quarter of 2026.
Post acquisition, B2B Live Events of Informa will generate revenues over £4.2 billion/$5.7 billion across around 1,000 specialist B2B brands in over 40 market categories and more than 30 countries.
Clarion is expected to register revenues of over £575 million for the calendar year 2027, with adjusted operating profit margins of 30%. This reflects 10%± underlying revenue growth on annual events and £100 million± incremental year-on-year revenue from biennial events.
Post transaction, Clarion will become an operating business of Informa.
In addition, Informa has announced its plans to separate its Academic business, Taylor & Francis to focus more on core B2B business and to provide Taylor & Francis with greater independence to grow further.
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