Informa to buy ICE and World Gaming organiser Clarion for £2.24bn

ICE set for new era following purchase from Blackstone

Events company Informa is buying Clarion, owner of the World Gaming, iGB Live and ICE brands, in a £2.24bn combination that lifts revenues, accelerates growth and enhances earnings per share from 2027.

Stephen A. Carter, Group Chief Executive, Informa, said: ”Informa is today accelerating the focus on our core B2B business, as we announce plans to separate our Academic Markets business, Taylor & Francis. The planned separation of Taylor & Francis coincides with further expansion in B2B through the £2.24bn
acquisition of Clarion, the UK-based owner of more than 100 B2B Live Event brands. The combination will underscore Informa as the UK-listed, international leader in B2B Live Events, with annual Group revenues
exceeding $6bn and underlying revenue growth of more than seven per cent.”

Alex Pratt, Managing Director at WorldGaming, said it was a ‘big day’ for Clarion Events.

“Informa has agreed to acquire Clarion, and gaming is named as one of the three growth categories behind the deal, with ICE called out as the global leader. I joined iGamingBusiness in 2004. Seeing what we’ve built at WorldGaming recognised like this means a lot, and the credit goes to the team who did the work over the last 22 years,” he said. “I’m 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.

Post Clarion, B2B Live Events will generate revenues over £4.2bn/$5.7bn across c.1,000 specialist B2B brands in more than 40 market categories and 30+ countries;

Clarion is being acquired from Blackstone for an enterprise value of £2.24bn, representing a multiple of 11.1x 2027 expected EBITDA1, or c.9x including cost

The Clarion portfolio also brings geographic complementarity, adding further depth in North America and Asia and significantly strengthening Informa’s European position. Given Clarion’s minimal presence in IMEA, there are significant opportunities for geo-locating and syndicating brands into the region using

Clarion’s CEO will rollover a proportion of Clarion equity into Informa equity on completion of the transaction.