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Informa agrees £2.3bn purchase of Clarion Events from Blackstone

FTSE 100 group Informa announced on Tuesday a deal to buy events organiser Clarion Events from Blackstone for about £2.2–2.3bn, part-funded by a £940m share placing, and said it will review options for separating its Taylor & Francis academic arm.

2 outlets · 0L · 1C · 1R First reported Account updated
Image: City A.M.
Image: Evening Standard

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The story, neutrally told

Mixed · 2Informa, the FTSE 100 group, announced on Tuesday 6 October that it is buying London-headquartered Clarion Events from private equity firm Blackstone. Mixed · 2City A.M. puts the price at £2.3bn, while the Evening Standard gives £2.24bn (£2.2bn in its headline). Mixed · 2The deal adds more than 100 business-to-business event brands, including trade shows in defence, electronics, energy and gaming. City A.M. names IFA Berlin, the International Casino Exhibition and Defence & Security Equipment International at London's ExCeL.

Centre · 1Informa says its business-to-business live events will have sales of more than £4.2bn across around 1,000 specialist brands in more than 40 market categories and over 30 countries after the deal. Mixed · 2It will part-fund the purchase with a £940m share placing and will pause its current share buyback programme. Mixed · 2Informa expects the deal to lift earnings per share by mid-single digits by 2027, and to deliver about £50m of cost savings and roughly £25m of extra income by 2029. Clarion is expected to generate revenues of more than £575m in 2027, with adjusted operating margins above 30%.

Mixed · 2Informa also said it will review "all options" for separating its Taylor & Francis academic division, which is approaching $1bn in revenue and growing at about 4% a year according to City A.M. Mixed · 2Chief executive Stephen Carter said Taylor & Francis would "benefit from greater flexibility and freedom" as Informa expands its business-to-business portfolio. He said business-to-business revenues have grown ten-fold since 2014. Mixed · 2The reports differ on when the review will conclude: City A.M. says the outcome will come with the 2026 full-year results, and the Evening Standard says results will be published in March.

Mixed · 2Informa says Clarion adds "further depth" in North America and Asia and "significantly" strengthens its European position. City A.M. describes the deal as the latest in a string of acquisitions, after Ascential for £1.2bn in October 2024 and a merger of its tech business with TechTarget that December.

Every sentence links to the reporting it rests on. The pill in front of each says where its sources sit: Left, Centre or Right when one side supplies at least half of them, Mixed when they are evenly split. The number is how many outlets it cites.

Left0 outlets

No left outlet in our sources has covered this story yet.

Centre1 outlet

Framing
Presents the deal as part of a strategy overhaul, pairing the purchase with the planned Taylor & Francis separation.
Emphasis
Carter's strategic rationale, group scale after the deal, Clarion's projected revenue and margin, and geographic expansion.
Leaves out or plays down
Leaves out the synergy figures, the pause to the share buyback and Informa's earlier acquisitions.
Charged language
“strategy overhaul”
For example
“Informa to buy rival events firm Clarion for £2.2bn amid strategy overhaul” — Evening Standard

Right1 outlet

Framing
A deal report framed as another acquisition by a growing group, which has "snapped up" the largest privately owned events organiser.
Emphasis
Named event brands, funding, synergy targets (£50m savings, £25m extra income by 2029) and Informa's earlier acquisitions.
Leaves out or plays down
Does not give Clarion's expected 2027 revenue or margin, or Informa's North America, Asia and Europe rationale.
Charged language
“snaps up”“snapped up”
For example
“Informa has snapped up the world’s largest privately owned event and exhibition organiser” — City A.M.