Informa acquires Ascential plc

Informa, an international B2B events, B2B digital services and academic markets group has announced it is further strengthening in live B2B events following the completion of the Ascential plc acquisition through the creation of Informa Festivals, in addition to the planned expansion in B2B digital services through the prospective creation of Informa TechTarget.

Stephen A. Carter, group chief executive, said: “The completion of the Ascential acquisition, creation of Informa Festivals and prospective creation of Informa TechTarget will establish leadership and scale in all our chosen B2B market segments, complementing our strength in Academic markets and creating a platform for growth from 2025 to 2030.” He added: ”Over the last four years, our strategy has been to build further strength and depth in B2B businesses, targeting new growth opportunities as the Live B2B Events market segments and becomes increasingly sophisticated, and B2B Digital Services mature.”

Informa reports key highlights as follows:

• A Growth Platform…Growth, focus and reinvestment over the last four years has enabled Informa to build further scale and depth across our three core markets of Live & On-Demand B2B Events, B2B Digital Services and Academic Markets. This will see the Group enter 2025 with revenues of £4bn+/$5bn+ and delivering consistent 5%+ underlying revenue growth;
• Focus, scale and growth in B2B Events...In 2025, we are updating our B2B operating model to take full advantage of future growth opportunities as the Live B2B Events market matures and segments, establishing three focused Live B2B Events businesses, each serving a high growth, high value segment of the market:
• Informa Markets…Transaction-led B2B Events creating a marketplace for B2B Buyers, B2B Sellers and the supply chain to meet, discover, promote and trade;
• Informa Connect…Content-led B2B Events convening industries, delivering original professional content, recognised professional accreditation, market access services and high value networking;
• Informa Festivals…Experience-led Events at the heart of industries, inspiring and celebrating business through high impact, immersive content, deep community connections, professional development and personal enrichment;
• Creation of Informa Festivals...New business established from 1 January 2025 to showcase the growth and value of Experience-led B2B Events, characterised by dynamic end-markets, immersive content, community connections, professional development and personal inspiration. This includes Lions (Marketing), Money20/20 / Finovate (Fintech), Black Hat (Cyber Security), GDC (Gaming) and London Tech Week / Africa Tech Festival (Future Tech);
• B2B Digital Services...Our strategy to build a leading, scalable platform in B2B Digital Services is progressing, with the proposed combination of Informa Tech’s Digital Businesses with NASDAQ- listed TechTarget expected to complete in the fourth quarter. Long-term growth in Enterprise Technology and its use of B2B Digital Services is strong but current market momentum remains subdued, with key customer spend still broadly flat through the third quarter;
• Academic Markets…In 2024, Taylor & Francis is on track to deliver strong double-digit underlying growth, augmented by Data Access Agreements with LLM partners. These revenues are a mixture of underlying recurring revenues through to 2027 and significant in-year revenues in 2024. More broadly, performance is consistent, with higher volumes in Open Research balanced by softness in traditional areas of print books;
• 2024 guidance reconfirmed...Informa’s underlying trading performance remains strong, with the Group on track to meet previously upgraded full year guidance, including double-digit Underlying Revenue Growth, Group Revenue of £3.5bn+, Adjusted Operating Profit of £970m+ (up to £1bn) and Free Cash Flow of £740m+ (GBP/USD 1.26 and excluding any effect of the proposed combination with TechTarget and acquisition of Ascential).

Informa says the strong underlying performance of its businesses over recent years, combined with the benefit of inorganic investments, including the creation of Informa Festivals and the prospective creation of Informa TechTarget, both expands and strengthens Informa’s operating model.

Structural growth in B2B and academic markets, combined with the strength of our market positions, specialist brands and proprietary data, creates a strong platform for growth from 2025 to 2030, concluded Informa.