Informa has agreed to acquire Clarion from Blackstone for an enterprise value of £2.24 billion while simultaneously launching a process to separate its Taylor & Francis academic publishing business, a pair of transactions intended to sharpen the company’s focus on global B2B markets and accelerate growth.
The Clarion acquisition will substantially expand Informa’s B2B Live Events business and add more than 100 specialist brands across high-growth categories including electronics, defense and security, gaming, energy and technology.
Following completion, Informa expects its B2B Live Events portfolio to generate more than £4.2 billion, or approximately $5.7 billion, in annual revenue across roughly 1,000 specialist brands operating in more than 40 market categories and more than 30 countries.
The combination is also expected to push total Informa Group annual revenue above $6 billion while establishing the enlarged B2B Live Events operation as a business capable of delivering more than 7% underlying annual growth.
Clarion was founded in 1947 and owns and operates more than 100 B2B event brands.
Its 10 largest category franchises account for approximately two-thirds of revenue.
Major brands include IFA and Global Sources in electronics, DSEI and UDT in defense and security, ICE and IGB in gaming, Distributech and Infocast in energy and ITC and Affiliate in technology.
Clarion is expected to generate more than £575 million of revenue in calendar 2027, with adjusted operating margins exceeding 30%.
Informa said Clarion’s annual events are expected to generate underlying revenue growth of approximately 10%, while biennial events are expected to contribute roughly £100 million of incremental year-over-year revenue.
The acquisition also gives Informa immediate scale in several strategic markets where it sees significant growth opportunities.
Clarion owns IFA Berlin, described by Informa as the world’s largest consumer electronics event, as well as international defense and security brand DSEI and gaming event ICE in Barcelona.
The transaction will also deepen Informa’s existing positions in technology through ITC Vegas and energy through Distributech.
The combination will increase the number of Informa category franchises generating more than $50 million of revenue to more than 20.
It will also increase the company’s portfolio of Marquee and Power Brands to more than 100.
Informa classifies Marquee Brands as businesses generating more than $30 million of revenue and Power Brands as those producing between $10 million and $30 million.
Geographically, Clarion will add further depth in North America and Asia while significantly expanding Informa’s position in Europe.
Because Clarion currently has relatively little presence in India, the Middle East and Africa, Informa sees an opportunity to introduce and adapt Clarion brands across those markets using its existing infrastructure and relationships.
Informa also expects substantial financial benefits from integrating Clarion into its existing B2B platform.
The company has identified approximately £50 million of annual run-rate operating synergies spanning operating efficiencies, procurement, shared services, event delivery and the elimination of duplicated corporate costs.
In addition, Informa is targeting approximately £25 million of incremental annual operating profit from revenue synergies by 2029.
Potential revenue opportunities include international expansion of Clarion brands, cross-marketing, lead generation, digital and data services, non-endemic sponsorships and partnerships with hotels and cities.
The company expects the full run-rate benefits from the identified cost and revenue synergies to be achieved by the third full year of ownership in 2029.
Approximately 25% of those benefits are expected during the first full year following completion.
Informa anticipates one-time costs of approximately £50 million associated with delivering the synergies.
The £2.24 billion valuation represents approximately 11.1 times Clarion’s expected 2027 EBITDA before synergies.
The multiple declines to approximately nine times when identified cost synergies are included and approximately eight times when expected cost and revenue synergies are incorporated.
Financially, Informa expects the acquisition to enhance adjusted diluted earnings per share by a mid-single-digit percentage in 2027.
The company is also targeting a post-tax return on invested capital exceeding 10% by 2029, which would be above Informa’s weighted average cost of capital.
Informa plans to finance the transaction through dedicated acquisition financing and approximately £940 million of proceeds from an equity placing and retail offer.
The equity issuance represents approximately 9% of Informa’s existing ordinary share capital.
The company will pause its existing share repurchase program and redirect capital toward financing the Clarion acquisition.
Informa expects pro forma net debt to EBITDA to remain below three times at the end of 2026 and decline below 2.5 times by the end of 2027.
The transaction is expected to close toward the end of the fourth quarter of 2026, subject to customary regulatory approvals.
Following completion, Clarion is initially expected to operate as an Informa business under its existing leadership.
Clarion CEO Lisa Hannant will remain in her role and join Informa’s Executive Leadership Team.
Alongside the Clarion acquisition, Informa has formally launched a separation process for Taylor & Francis, its Academic Markets business.
The company said separating the operation would allow Taylor & Francis greater independence and flexibility while enabling Informa to focus more heavily on its core B2B portfolio.
Taylor & Francis has grown significantly since joining Informa in 2004.
Annual published articles have increased nearly fivefold to more than 170,000, specialist reference titles have increased approximately fivefold to more than 185,000 and annual revenue has grown fourfold to approximately $1 billion.
Underlying revenue growth has also increased from less than 2% to approximately 4%.
Taylor & Francis currently operates more than 2,700 peer-reviewed journals alongside its Open Research platform, editorial networks and relationships with academic societies and institutions.
Informa said the business has been evolving from traditional academic publishing toward a broader knowledge marketplace serving researchers, institutions, funders, educators and professional communities.
Informa is reviewing all options for the separation and expects to provide the outcome of that process alongside its 2026 full-year results in March 2027.
The broader strategic moves come as Informa continues reporting growth across its existing events portfolio.
The company highlighted strength during 2026 across cybersecurity through Black Hat, pharmaceuticals through CPHI Worldwide and jewelry through Jewellery & Gem World.
Informa also reported more than $1 billion of fourth-quarter group revenue already booked and committed, supporting guidance for approximately 6% underlying revenue growth and double-digit underlying earnings-per-share growth for the full year.
KEY QUOTES:
“Informa is today accelerating the focus on our core B2B business, as we announce plans to separate our Academic Markets business, Taylor & Francis.”
“The planned separation of Taylor & Francis coincides with further expansion in B2B through the £2.24bn acquisition of Clarion, the UK-based owner of more than 100 B2B Live Event brands. The combination will underscore Informa as the UK-listed, international leader in B2B Live Events, with annual Group revenues exceeding $6bn and underlying revenue growth of 7%±.”
“Today’s announcements mark the latest step in a growth strategy that has seen B2B revenues grow tenfold since 2014, whilst generating more than $3bn of value in Business Intelligence and lifting Taylor & Francis revenues fourfold since it joined the Group.”
“With Taylor & Francis approaching $1bn in revenue, growing at 4%± and with its Open Research capabilities firmly established, we believe it will now benefit from greater flexibility and freedom through the next phase of its development, as Informa further expands the depth and reach of its B2B portfolio.”
Stephen A. Carter, Group Chief Executive of Informa
