Informa, a FTSE 100 events company, has agreed to buy Clarion, the London-based organiser of arms fairs and comic book conventions, from the private equity group Blackstone for £2.24bn.
The takeover will add more than 100 events to Informa’s portfolio, ranging from the defence and security exhibition DSEI at London’s ExCel to AwesomeCon, a comic book and pop culture event in Washington.
Portfolio and protests
DSEI, held every two years in London as well as in Germany and Japan, has attracted protests. Last year, hundreds demonstrated outside the four-day fair in London against the presence of three of Israel’s biggest arms companies. Elbit Systems, Rafael and Israel Aerospace Industries have supplied the Israel Defense Forces; the latter two are state-owned.
Clarion’s portfolio also includes travel shows, classic car meet-ups, and events for the technology, gaming, design and technology industries. Its Classic Motor Show in Birmingham next month is billed as the “world’s largest vehicle club gathering”.
Strategic shift and funding
Stephen Carter, Informa’s chief executive, said the company was “accelerating the focus” on its core live events business, as it also outlined plans to spin off its academic publishing arm, Taylor & Francis.
Informa, headquartered in London and employing 14,000 people, hosts major industry events worldwide, including London Tech Week and the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. The FTSE 100 group’s shares have been flat this year after it was forced to reschedule several events in the Middle East because of the conflict in the region.
Last year, Carter, who has led the group since 2013, moved his residency from the UK to the UAE and retired from the House of Lords. Informa generates more than a third of its revenue in India, the Middle East and Asia.
Taylor & Francis spin-off and impact
The academic publishing business made about $1bn (£760m) last year. Informa said it had launched a formal process to separate Taylor & Francis and would “review all options”, with the outcome reported alongside its full-year results in March next year.
Taylor & Francis, founded in London in 1852, joined Informa in 2004. It publishes journals and books on science, medicine, technology and engineering.
To fund the Clarion deal, Informa told investors on Tuesday it will raise £940m through a share placing, including an offer for armchair investors via the broker RetailBook. The takeover is expected to accelerate Informa’s growth and bolster its earnings per share from 2027. Shares in the company, listed on the London Stock Exchange, rose by 1.4% in early trading on Tuesday.
