Informa and UBM revive old takeover talks to fashion B2B heavyweight

● Key financial terms of a transaction hammered out by parties for market

Business to business (B2B) information services and events firms Informa and UBM jointly announced plans yesterday to push through a £9 billion merger in the fast‑mov‑ ing industry.

Informa said the proposed combination would create a market‑leading B2B group, and that it would table a cash and shares offer for its rival. The offer, which represents a 30 per cent premium of the two companies’ share price on Monday, would see UBM shareholders receive 1.083 Informa shares and 163 pence in cash for each UBM share.

Yesterday’s announcement followed a stock market update late on Tuesday, when UBM’S share price climbed in response to rumours that the two companies were revisit‑ ing a merger proposal first mooted in 2008.

Informa chief executive Stephen Carter said: “It is clear that the B2B market is moving to operating scale and indus‑ try specialisation.

“The combined group will have the reach and market capabilities to take full advan‑ tage of these trends.”

The move would see Carter become chief executive of the combined firm, with Informa chairman Derek Mapp retain‑ ing the same position at the new entity.

The board will comprise sev‑ en non‑executive directors from Informa and three from UBM. If the transaction goes ahead, Informa investors will own 65.5 per cent of the com‑ pany and UBM shareholders 34.5 per cent.

Yesterday’s statement said: “The combined group will build on the respective strengths of Informa and UBM to meet growing customer demands for brands and part‑ ners with international reach, specialist industry knowledge and an increasingly wide range of B2B services incorporating face‑to‑face platforms and events, data analytics, targeted marketing services and trusted, reliable intelligence and research.”

UBM, under chief executive Tim Cobbold, has exited non‑ core operations to focus on its events business. The compa‑ ny sold its last magazine title, the construction industry pub‑ lication Building, earlier this month.

UBM also owned Express Newspapers, Property Week, The public an and music week, but has shifted its focus to events, conferences and exhibitions, such as fashion shows in the US and jewellery expositions in the UK.

Informa specialises in B2B events, business intelligence and academic publishing, and has a substantial presence in North America, South America, Asia, Europe, the Middle East and Africa.