Definitive proof that events are a financial asset class — Informa used capital recycling to sell data businesses at peak value and buy Cannes Lions and Money20/20, controlling the two most important gathering points in advertising and fintech at a 21x EBITDA multiple.
Informa Acquisition of Ascential
Type: M&A — Public Company Acquisition Acquirer: Informa plc Target: Ascential plc Price: ~$1.5 billion (£1.2 billion) Announced: 2024 Deal Closed: 2024–2025
Why It Matters to Due Dilly
This deal is the definitive proof that events are a financial asset class. Informa used capital recycling — selling data businesses at peak value — to buy Cannes Lions and Money20/20 at a relative discount. The result: control over the two most important gathering points in advertising and fintech.
Episodes
- ep 03 how events become big businesses — Core case study
Deal Terms
- Acquisition price: ~$1.5B (£1.2B)
- Ascential FY2023 EBITDA: $72.5M
- Implied EBITDA multiple: ~21x
- Previous Informa capital recycling: sold data businesses in 2022 for ~$3B; those brands generated ~$257.2M in revenue at ~28x EV/EBITDA average
Assets Acquired
- Cannes Lions — Premier global advertising and creativity festival; entry fees €630–€2,600+
- Money20/20 — One of the world's largest fintech conferences; 13,000 attendees
Strategic Logic
Informa CEO Stephan Carter: "Informa is in the business of creating, nurturing and growing world class B2B brands."
Signals
- (To be updated by /signal-agent)