Informa to split off Taylor & Francis, buy Clarion, as focuses on B2B

Informa PLC on Tuesday said it was raising £940 million to fund the £2.24 billion acquisition of Clarion Events, and hive-off its Academic business, Taylor & Francis, as it focuses on its business-to-business operation.

"Today's announcements mark the latest step in a growth strategy that has seen B2B revenues grow tenfold since 2014," explained Chief Executive Stephen Carter.

In response, shares in the London-based business information and exhibitions group were 2.0% higher at 879.00 pence each in London on Tuesday.

The FTSE 100 listing said it is buying Clarion, the UK-based owner of more than 100 B2B live event brands, from New York asset manager Blackstone Inc for an enterprise value of £2.24 billion.

The addition is expected to deliver mid-single digit adjusted diluted earnings per share enhancement in 2027 and double-digit post-tax return on invested capital within three years, ahead of Informa's weighted average cost of capital.

Clarion brings a portfolio of 100 plus B2B brands, including eight 'marquee' brands and eight 'power' brands, taking Informa's portfolio of marquee/power brands to over 100. Marquee brands are categorised as those with revenue of more than USD30 million, and power brands those with revenue between USD10 million to USD30 million.

Specifically, Informa said it gains "immediate scale" entry into three "high growth strategic categories" – Electronics, Defence/Security and Energy, increasing the number of category franchises generating USD50 million plus to more than 20.

Geographically, the deal adds "further depth" in North America and Asia and "significantly" strengthens Informa's European position, it said.

Clarion is expected to generate revenues of £575 million plus in 2027, with adjusted operating profit margins of more than 30%.

Post Clarion, B2B live events will generate revenues over £4.2 billion across around 1,000 specialist B2B brands in more than 40 market categories and more than 30 countries, Informa said.

Annual run rate operating synergies of around £50 million have been identified to date from operating model efficiencies, procurement, shared services, event delivery and the removal of duplicated corporate costs.

In addition, Informa said it has also identified significant revenue opportunities through combination, with a targeted run rate of around £25 million operating profit through incremental revenues 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. Around 25% is expected to be delivered in the first full year of ownership. One-off costs associated with the delivery of synergies are expected to be around £50 million.

Informa said it will pause its current share buyback programme in order to redirect capital to fund the transaction.

The acquisition will be funded through a mixture of committed acquisition financing and the proceeds of a £940 million placing.

The share placing, around 9% of Informa's share capital, will be via an accelerated bookbuild, launched Tuesday. The price per share and final number of shares to be placed will be decided at bookbuild close. There will also be a separate offer to retail investors via the RetailBook platform.

Informa said its largest institutional shareholder has stated its intention to participate in the placing on a pro rata basis.

Post-completion, pro-forma net debt to earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation is expected to remain below 3 times at year-end 2026, falling to below 2.5x by year-end 2027.

The acquisition is expected to complete in the fourth quarter of 2026, subject to customary regulatory clearances.

Clarion will become an operating business within Informa, led by current Chief Executive Lisa Hannant who will remain in her role and join the Informa executive leadership team.

Further, Informa said it intends to separate its Academic Markets business, Taylor & Francis, to focus on its core B2B business.

Informa said it has launched a separation process to review all options that will best support the business going forward. The outcomes of the review will be provided alongside Informa's 2026 full year results next March.

CEO Carter said with Taylor & Francis approaching USD1 billion in revenue, growing at around 4%, "we believe it will now benefit from greater flexibility and freedom through the next phase of its development."

Informa also provided an update on trading, stating it continues to deliver good growth in 2026 underpinning full year guidance for around 6% underlying revenue growth and double-digit growth in underlying earnings per share.

In 2025, Informa reported revenue of £4.04 billion and underlying EPS of 55.6 pence.

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