Informa to Buy Clarion for £2.24B, Plans Taylor & Francis Separation

Key Points

• Informa will acquire Clarion Events for £2.24 billion, with completion expected in early December. The deal will expand Informa’s live-events portfolio across electronics, defense, security, gaming, technology and energy.
• Informa plans to separate its Taylor & Francis academic publishing business, with the process expected to run through the first half of 2027. The company will engage potential interested parties and provide an update with its March annual results.
• The acquisition is expected to be earnings-accretive and generate £75 million in annual run-rate synergies by 2029. It will be funded through debt and equity, while Informa expects leverage to remain below three times initially and fall to about 2.5 times by the end of 2027.

Informa LON: INF said it plans to separate its Taylor & Francis academic publishing business while acquiring live-events operator Clarion Events for £2.24 billion, moves intended to create a more focused business-to-business events group with greater international scale.

The company said Clarion is expected to join the group in early December, subject to completion, while the Taylor & Francis separation process is expected to run through the first half of 2027. Informa said it will engage with potential interested parties over the next several months and provide an update alongside its annual results in March.

Management said Taylor & Francis has developed into a larger, more international academic business with open-access publishing capabilities, proprietary technology and an experienced management team led by Penny Ladkin-Brand. Informa said its evaluation of a separation will consider the interests of authors, researchers, customers, employees and shareholders.

“It is now ready to be a standalone business,” Informa said during the presentation, adding that the decision was based on its assessment of the business rather than any prior approaches for the asset.

Clarion adds events scale and new market categories

Clarion will expand Informa’s presence in live events, particularly in electronics, defense and security, and gaming. The transaction will also deepen Informa’s positions in technology and energy, management said.

Following the combination and Taylor & Francis separation, Informa expects its Live Events operation to generate nearly $5 billion, or just over £4.2 billion, in revenue, with annual growth of roughly 7%. The combined portfolio is expected to include about 1,000 live-event brands across 40 markets and 30 countries, serving more than 9 million attendees and nearly 250,000 exhibitors.

Clarion is expected to generate more than £575 million in 2027 revenue and has an operating margin of more than 30%, according to Informa. The company noted that 2027 is a biennial “up year” for Clarion, with about £100 million of revenue tied to events that do not run annually.

Informa said the purchase price represents 11 times Clarion’s 2027 adjusted EBITDA, or about eight times EBITDA after expected cost and revenue synergies. Management described Clarion as earnings accretive from the transaction’s expected December close.

Synergies and financing

Gareth Wright, Informa’s group chief financial officer, said the company expects £50 million of operating synergies and £25 million of revenue synergies on a run-rate basis by the end of 2029. Some benefits are expected in 2027, with the larger contribution anticipated in 2028.

Revenue opportunities include taking Clarion brands into new markets, particularly the Middle East, and expanding lead-generation and digital-service offerings. Informa said Clarion has a relatively limited Middle East footprint, creating room for geographic expansion.

The acquisition will be financed through a combination of debt and equity, including a share placing announced alongside the deal. Management said the placing was more than covered at the time of the presentation. Informa expects the transaction to keep leverage below three times initially and to reduce leverage to around 2.5 times by the end of 2027.

Wright said Informa remains committed to an investment-grade credit rating and currently targets a leverage range of 1.5 times to 2.5 times net debt to EBITDA, though that range could be reviewed once the outcome of the Taylor & Francis separation is clear.

Guidance reaffirmed amid Middle East disruption

Informa reaffirmed its 2026 revenue and adjusted earnings guidance, saying operating performance has remained steady to strong across the Americas, Europe and Asia. The company also said its events activity has returned at scale in the Middle East, where it has run nearly 20 brands in locations including Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Riyadh.

Management said bookings and customer commitments provide visibility for the fourth quarter, although it acknowledged continued regional uncertainty. Rebooking rates in the Middle East are comparable with prior levels, though forward payments have been somewhat more muted, according to the company.

Once Informa has deleveraged and completed the separation process, management said it intends to return to share buybacks.

About Informa (LON:INF)

Our events, digital products and academic research services connect specialists with knowledge, helping them learn more, know more and do more. We do this in dozens of specialist markets and subject matter categories, including in Healthcare & Pharma, Technology, Finance, Education, Marketing, Health & Nutrition, Foodservice, and many more. And we do this through a range of products and services, including major live events, specialist media and content, expert research articles, books and open research platforms, accredited training, buyer discovery services, and digital demand and lead-generation services.

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