Events firm Informa to buy rival Ascential for £1.16bn

Events giant Informa has sealed a deal to buy rival Ascential for £1.16 billion.

Shares in Ascential, which owns the Cannes Lions advertising festival, jumped by more than a quarter on the back of the deal.

FTSE 100 firm Informa told shareholders on Wednesday morning it has agreed to buy its rival for 568p per share.

Informa, which is the world’s largest trade show operator, said it expects the deal to provide at least £12 million worth of cost savings and efficiency improvements each year.

Meanwhile, Ascential’s proposed takeover comes after the company outlined plans to split off its operations last year, as it sold digital commerce division Flywheel to Omnicom for around £740 million.

Stephen A Carter, chief executive of Informa, said the deal will allow the firm to help grow some of Ascential’s key brands.

He said: “Informa is in the business of creating, nurturing and growing world-class B2B (business-to-business) brands.

“Lions and Money20/20 are outstanding examples of such brands.

“Combined, we can expand them into more markets, accelerate growth and take advantage of new opportunities.”

Philip Thomas, chief executive of Ascential, said: “This offer will not only deliver substantial value for our shareholders but also, together with Informa’s international footprint and extensive capabilities in data and analytics, will unlock further growth opportunities for our brands and our people.”

Shares in Ascential were up 26.4% after the announcement. Shares in Informa were up 3.8%.