Informa to Acquire Clarion Events for £2.24bn
Informa, the London-listed events and publishing group, has announced the acquisition of B2B events organiser Clarion Events for £2.24 billion, alongside plans to launch a formal review into separating its academic publishing business, Taylor & Francis. The dual announcement marks a significant strategic step in Informa’s efforts to concentrate its portfolio around its core business-to-business live events operations.
A Transformational Deal for B2B Events
Clarion Events, one of the world’s leading independent trade exhibition organisers, has been owned by private equity firm Blackstone since 2017, when it was acquired for approximately £600 million. The business runs a broad portfolio of trade shows and exhibitions across sectors including gaming, electronics, energy and retail.
The agreed enterprise value of £2.24 billion implies an acquisition multiple of approximately 9x 2027 EV/EBITDA after accounting for run-rate cost synergies. Informa stated that, with the addition of Clarion, its B2B Live Events division is expected to deliver growth of 7% or above.
To part-fund the transaction, Informa intends to raise around £940 million through a share issue. The move underlines the company’s stated ambition to reinforce its position as an international market leader in B2B live events, where it already operates more than 800 brands across more than 30 countries.
The deal follows strong recent performance in Informa’s events business. In its half-year 2026 results, the group reported underlying revenue growth of 6.8%, with B2B Live Events delivering 8% underlying growth, despite the rescheduling of more than 15 brands from the first to the second half in its India, Middle East and Africa region.
Alex Pratt, the Managing Director of WorldGaming, the gambling expo arm of Clarion said in a post on LinkedIn, “Very excited for the next stage in the journey… Informa’s data, digital capability and international reach are exactly what our live and digital ecosystem needs to go further, faster.”
