Informa Expands to US with £1.2bn Penton Buy

London-based Informa has acquired professional information services and exhibitions group Penton, headquartered in New York, in a £1.2 billion deal.

In addition to trade publishing and events, Penton develops data solutions such as the NEXT Trend product, offering trend data, predictive consumer segmentation, and a concept testing lab for CPG companies. Last year, it launched a solution called SmartReach Audience Extension, which taps Penton's proprietary database of twenty million business decision-maker profiles.

The acquisition will be funded through a combination of new debt and equity, including an underwritten rights issue of shares at 441 pence each for every four existing Informa shares, aimed at raising £715m. The sellers, which include certain senior managers and private equity firms MidOcean Partners and Wasserstein & Co, will receive £1.105 billion in cash and £76m in new Informa equity.

Informa's Board says it believes the combination of the two firms is 'commercially and financially compelling', extending the group's Global Exhibitions and Business Intelligence divisions, as well as its scale in the US, which will account for 47% of annual pro-forma revenues. On completion, Informa's CEO of Business Intelligence Patrick Martell will take over the role of Penton CEO from David Kieselstein, who served as CEO of TNS North America before joining Penton in 2012.

Informa Group CEO Stephen Carter (pictured) comments: 'This combination will further strengthen our capabilities in Global Exhibitions and Business Intelligence and extend our US presence. Following extensive and exclusive talks with Penton's owners and management, today's announcement underlines our commitment to accelerated growth and international scale whilst delivering attractive returns for our shareholders'.

Web sites: www.informa.com and www.penton.com .