Ascential, owner of Cannes Lions, will be acquired by Informa, following a deal worth almost 1.6 billion dollars
Posted: Thu Dec 12, 2024 4:28 am
The boards of directors of both companies have had several rapprochements in recent months, according to The Financial Times.
Ascential, owner of Cannes Lions, will be acquired by Informa, following a deal worth almost 1.6 billion dollars"We're not buying this business to cut costs, we're buying this business to grow," said Carter, Informa's chief executive.
British publisher Informa has announced that it has reached an agreement to buy Ascential, the company that owns the Cannes Lions festival, for 1.2 billion pounds (1.6 billion dollars), adding the International Festival of Creativity, the most important in the advertising industry, to its portfolio of events.
Shares of Ascential, which also owns vk phone number data fintech events Money20/20, jumped 26 percent in early trading, Reuters reported. Informa, which also raised its annual profit expectations, recouped early losses and was trading virtually unchanged.
Informa said it would expand both events and accelerate growth, helped by its data platform and understanding of the marketing and fintech sectors.
Informa CEO Stephen A. Carter added that both companies posted double-digit growth in the first half of this year and were confident in their prospects. "We're not buying this business to cut costs, we're buying this business to grow," he said.
Informa's offer represents a 53 percent premium to Ascential's closing price of 371 pence on Monday. Informa said the deal would boost adjusted earnings per share by at least 5 percent in the first full year, based on strong revenue growth and 12 million pounds of cost savings.
“On balance, we believe that this, while not welcome, will certainly be received more favorably than feared,” they added.
Informa announced the deal alongside its first-half results which showed underlying operating profit growth of 18.8 percent and revenue growth of 11 percent.
Ascential, owner of Cannes Lions, will be acquired by Informa, following a deal worth almost 1.6 billion dollars"We're not buying this business to cut costs, we're buying this business to grow," said Carter, Informa's chief executive.
British publisher Informa has announced that it has reached an agreement to buy Ascential, the company that owns the Cannes Lions festival, for 1.2 billion pounds (1.6 billion dollars), adding the International Festival of Creativity, the most important in the advertising industry, to its portfolio of events.
Shares of Ascential, which also owns vk phone number data fintech events Money20/20, jumped 26 percent in early trading, Reuters reported. Informa, which also raised its annual profit expectations, recouped early losses and was trading virtually unchanged.
Informa said it would expand both events and accelerate growth, helped by its data platform and understanding of the marketing and fintech sectors.
Informa CEO Stephen A. Carter added that both companies posted double-digit growth in the first half of this year and were confident in their prospects. "We're not buying this business to cut costs, we're buying this business to grow," he said.
Informa's offer represents a 53 percent premium to Ascential's closing price of 371 pence on Monday. Informa said the deal would boost adjusted earnings per share by at least 5 percent in the first full year, based on strong revenue growth and 12 million pounds of cost savings.
“On balance, we believe that this, while not welcome, will certainly be received more favorably than feared,” they added.
Informa announced the deal alongside its first-half results which showed underlying operating profit growth of 18.8 percent and revenue growth of 11 percent.