Informa (LSE:INF) has announced plans to separate its Academic Markets business, Taylor & Francis, while simultaneously agreeing to acquire B2B events group Clarion from Blackstone for an enterprise value of £2.24bn.
The FTSE 100 information and events group, which operates Live B2B Events and academic publishing through Taylor & Francis across roughly 30 countries, said the combined moves will sharpen its focus on its core B2B business.
The Clarion acquisition values the UK-based events company at 11.1 times its expected 2027 EBITDA, falling to roughly 9 times including identified cost synergies and roughly 8 times including revenue synergies.
"Informa is today accelerating the focus on our core B2B business, as we announce plans to separate our Academic Markets business, Taylor & Francis," said Stephen A. Carter, Group Chief Executive.
Carter said the Clarion deal would make Informa "the UK-listed, international leader in B2B Live Events, with annual Group revenues exceeding $6bn and underlying revenue growth of 7%."
Clarion, founded in 1947 and headquartered in the UK, owns and operates more than 100 specialist B2B brands, including eight Marquee brands generating over $30m in revenue each and eight Power Brands between $10m and $30m.
The acquisition gives Informa scale entry into three strategic growth categories: Electronics, through IFA Berlin; Defence and Security, through DSEI; and Gaming, through ICE in Barcelona, while deepening its existing Technology and Energy offerings.
Clarion is expected to generate revenues of more than £575m in calendar year 2027, with adjusted operating profit margins above 30%, reflecting underlying annual revenue growth of roughly 10% plus incremental revenue from biennial events.
Informa has identified annual run-rate cost synergies of roughly £50m, alongside a targeted £25m of additional operating profit from revenue synergies by 2029, with one-off delivery costs of roughly £50m.
The deal will be funded through dedicated acquisition financing and the net proceeds of a roughly £940m equity placing and retail offer, equivalent to about 9% of Informa's issued share capital, with the company pausing its current share buyback programme to redirect capital.
Pro-forma net debt to EBITDA is expected to remain below 3 times at the end of 2026, falling below 2.5 times by the end of 2027, and the acquisition is targeted to deliver a post-tax return on invested capital above 10% by its third full year of ownership in 2029.
On Taylor & Francis, Carter said the academic publisher, approaching $1bn in revenue and growing at roughly 4%, "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."
Since joining Informa in 2004, Taylor & Francis has grown annual published articles nearly fivefold to more than 170,000 and revenues fourfold to roughly $1bn, with underlying growth doubling from under 2% to 4%.
Informa has launched a formal separation process reviewing all options for the academic business, with outcomes due alongside the group's 2026 full-year results in March 2027.
The Clarion acquisition is expected to complete towards the end of the fourth quarter, subject to customary regulatory approvals, with current CEO Lisa Hannant remaining in her role and joining Informa's Executive Leadership Team.