Informa to acquire Clarion for £2.24bn — The Guardian

In the United Kingdom, Informa has reached an agreement to acquire London-based events organiser Clarion from private equity group Blackstone for £2.24bn. As The Guardian reports, the deal will add more than 100 events to Informa’s portfolio.

More than 100 new events

Clarion’s events include the DSEI defence and security exhibition, held at London’s ExCeL every two years, as well as in Germany and Japan. The company’s portfolio also includes AwesomeCon, a Washington festival of comics and pop culture.

Clarion organises travel exhibitions, meetings for classic car owners, and events in technology, gaming and design. Its Classic Motor Show in Birmingham, scheduled for next month, is billed as the world’s largest gathering of car clubs.

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The DSEI exhibition has previously been the target of protests. Last year, hundreds of people demonstrated near the four-day event in London against the presence of Israel’s three largest defence companies — Elbit Systems, Rafael and Israel Aerospace Industries.

Focus on live events

Informa chief executive Stephen Carter said the company is accelerating its focus on its core live events business. At the same time, Informa has launched a formal process to separate its academic publishing division, Taylor & Francis, and is considering all possible options. The company plans to announce the outcome of the review alongside its annual results in March next year.

To finance the acquisition of Clarion, Informa is to raise £940m through a share placement that will include an offering for retail investors via the RetailBook broker. The company expects the takeover to accelerate its growth and increase earnings per share from 2027. At the start of trading on Tuesday, Informa shares on the London Stock Exchange rose by 1.4%.