Ascential plc, the owner of the Cannes Lions and Money20/20 businesses, has accepted a £1.2 billion cash offer from the UK events and academic publisher, Informa plc. This was announced alongside Informa’s first-half results on 24 July, where it was revealed that the recommended offer values each Ascential share at 568 pence.
Stephen A. Carter, Group Chief Executive at Informa plc, commented:
As the world digitises at pace, our brands, our content and our market positions are becoming more valuable. This is moving Informa into a faster growth lane for performance, expansion and returns, as demonstrated by our full year target of up to £1bn of adjusted operating profit and today’s recommended offer for Ascential plc.
According to Carter, Informa has ‘the operating platform and capacity’ to help expand Lions and Money20/20, accelerate growth, and create new opportunities. Moreover, he noted that Informa has an understanding of both the marketing and fintech sectors as well as international reach, making them ‘ideally placed to capture the growth and acceleration’ available to Ascential’s conferences.
Philip Thomas, Chief Executive of Ascential, also commented on the agreement as he said that the offer will not only deliver ‘substantial value’ for shareholders but also help ‘unlock further growth opportunities’ for the brands and their people.
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