Informa Offers $1.6 Billion to Buy Ascential, Looking to Grow Lions and Money20/20 Brands

On Wednesday, publishing and events giant Informa publicly announced a recommended offer for Ascential, the owner of the Lions and Money20/20 businesses, for $1.55 billion (£1.2 billion) in cash.

The companies agreed to a cash offer of $7.35 (£5.68) per Ascential share, a 53% premium to the closing price two days earlier. Before the deal was announced, Ascential was valued at around $968 million (£750 million).

Informa acquired Tarsus in March 2023 for $940 Million. This acquisition added more than 160 trade shows and media in various industries to the Informa portfolio.

Ascential describes itself as a specialist events-led intelligence and advisory business. Its two main brands operate in specific verticals: Lions in marketing and Money20/20 in financial technology. 

The half-year results previewed in the offer documents reveal revenue of approximately $204 million (£158 million) and 15% growth compared to the same period last year (HY 2023: $175.4 million (£136.1 million)). Both the marketing and financial technology segments achieved double-digit revenue growth. In its last full-year financial results, it posted a revenue increase of 13% and adjusted EBITDA up 17%.

Ascential is no stranger to deals. It is currently in the process of selling Hudson MX, a company it is a 36.5% shareholder in. In October 2023, it completed the sale of its Flywheel Digital and WGSN businesses and announced that it would return approximately $1.1 billion (£850 million) to shareholders generated from the sales. In August 2023, it acquired creative and strategic intelligence service Contagious to operate under the marketing vertical led by Lions.

With Ascential focused solely on B2B events, Informa describes it as a “pure-play operator of two of the highest quality and renowned global events.”

Informa’s Big Plans

The company also published results for the first half of 2024, which include revenue growth of 11%, an increase in full-year guidance and a stated ambition to deliver adjusted operating profit of up to $1.29 million (£1 billion).

Informa expects to save around $15.5 million (£12 million) by combining Ascential with its operating platform through efficiency improvements. It also expects significant revenue opportunities through cross-selling and expansion into fast-growth economies where it already runs events. 

Informa shared some of its plans for Ascential’s brands. The company is looking at making Lions the centerpiece of a new Informa Festivals business that will bring together some of Informa’s best-known shows, Monaco Yacht Show, London Tech Week, and Black Hat. It is also looking at expanding Money20/20 into the Middle East and Africa, likely through Tahaluf, its joint venture partnership with the Saudi Arabian Federation for Cyber Security and Programming.

Informa was one of several companies to strike a deal to share content for AI training. It agreed to a three-year deal with Microsoft, giving the U.S. tech giant access to its data and netting $10 million in the first year. In its half-year results Informa reveals that its AI-related revenues are over $75 million in 2024.