publishing
Publishing is the activities of making information, literature, music, software, and other content, physical or digital, available to the public for sale or free of charge. Traditionally, the term publishing refers to the creation and distribu ...
,
business intelligence
Business intelligence (BI) consists of strategies, methodologies, and technologies used by enterprises for data analysis and management of business information. Common functions of BI technologies include Financial reporting, reporting, online an ...
, and
exhibitions
An exhibition, in the most general sense, is an organized presentation and display of a selection of items. In practice, exhibitions usually occur within a cultural or educational setting such as a museum, art gallery, park, library, exhibition ...
group based in
London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
, England. It is listed on the
London Stock Exchange
The London Stock Exchange (LSE) is a stock exchange based in London, England. the total market value of all companies trading on the LSE stood at US$3.42 trillion. Its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St Paul's Cath ...
and is a constituent of the
FTSE 100 Index
The Financial Times Stock Exchange 100 Index, also called the FTSE 100 Index, FTSE 100, FTSE, or, informally, the "Footsie" , is the United Kingdom's best-known stock market index of the 100 most highly capitalised blue chips listed on ...
.
It has offices in 30 countries and around 12,000 employees. Informa owns numerous brands including
Fan Expo
FAN EXPO is a group of fan conventions operated by FAN EXPO HQ, a unit of the Informa Connect division of Informa plc and the world's largest comic con producer. Most of its events are run under the FAN EXPO brand, which stems from its namesake, ...
,
VidCon
VidCon is an annual convention for influencers, fans, executives, and online brands. The event primarily features prominent video stars from across the internet. It was founded by veteran YouTube creators John and Hank Green ( Vlogbrothers), a ...
,
Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity
The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity (formerly the International Advertising Festival) is a global event for those working in creative communications, advertising, and related fields. It is considered the largest gathering of the ...
,
CRC Press
The CRC Press, LLC is an American publishing group that specializes in producing technical books. Many of their books relate to engineering, science and mathematics. Their scope also includes books on business, forensics and information technol ...
,
Routledge
Routledge ( ) is a British multinational corporation, multinational publisher. It was founded in 1836 by George Routledge, and specialises in providing academic books, academic journals, journals and online resources in the fields of the humanit ...
, and
Taylor & Francis
Taylor & Francis Group is an international company originating in the United Kingdom that publishes books and academic journals. Its parts include Taylor & Francis, CRC Press, Routledge, F1000 (publisher), F1000 Research and Dovepress. It i ...
.
History
Informa itself was created in 1998 by the merger of IBC Group plc (formerly International Business Communications) and LLP Group plc (publisher of ''
Lloyd's List
''Lloyd's List'' is one of the world's oldest continuously running journals, having provided weekly shipping news in London as early as 1734. It was published daily until 2013 (when the final print issue, number 60,850, was published), and i ...
''). Since then Informa has expanded considerably, including a 2003 purchase of '' PJB'' publisher PJB, 2004 merger with the publishing company Taylor & Francis and a 2005 acquisition of IIR Holdings, a human capital development company, for £768 million. In October 2006, the company was approached by Springer Science and Business Media in a takeover bid, but in early November the Informa board rejected the 630p per share offer as too low.
In early 2007, chairman Richard Hooper announced his retirement in May and, after consulting with major shareholders, the company moved chief executive Peter Rigby to chairman, and managing director David Gilbertson to Rigby's former post. Informa explained Rigby's move by the need to maintain management stability, although it generated some controversy because it did not follow the advice of the UK's Combined Code on
Corporate Governance
Corporate governance refers to the mechanisms, processes, practices, and relations by which corporations are controlled and operated by their boards of directors, managers, shareholders, and stakeholders.
Definitions
"Corporate governance" may ...
.
On 8 June 2008, ''
The Sunday Telegraph
''The Sunday Telegraph'' is a British broadsheet newspaper, first published on 5 February 1961 and published by the Telegraph Media Group, a division of Press Holdings. It is the sister paper of ''The Daily Telegraph
''The Daily Tele ...
'' revealed that
United Business Media
UBM plc was a British business-to-business (B2B) events organiser headquartered in London, England, before its acquisition by Informa in 2018. It had a long history as a Multinational corporation, multinational media company. Its main focus was ...
(UBM) had proposed a merger with Informa to create a media group worth over £3 billion. The talks were confirmed by Informa in a press release that same day, but described as "preliminary". Previously on 13 May ''
The Times
''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...
'' had reported that the
Carlyle Group
The Carlyle Group Inc. is an American multinational company with operations in private equity, alternative asset management and financial services. As of 2023, the company had $426 billion of assets under management.
Carlyle specializes in ...
and
Apax Partners
Apax Partners LLP is a British private equity firm, headquartered in London, England. The company also operates out of six other offices in New York, Hong Kong, Mumbai, Tel Aviv, Munich and Shanghai. As of March 2024, the firm had raised and adv ...
were considering bidding for the company. On 17 June talks with UBM ended because of the rapid rise in Informa's stock price after the public disclosure of the potential merger. On 26 June a private equity consortium consisting of
Providence Equity Partners
Providence Equity Partners L.L.C. is a specialist private equity investment firm focused on media, communications, education, and technology investments across North America and Europe. The firm specializes in growth-oriented private equity inves ...
, the
Carlyle Group
The Carlyle Group Inc. is an American multinational company with operations in private equity, alternative asset management and financial services. As of 2023, the company had $426 billion of assets under management.
Carlyle specializes in ...
and
Hellman & Friedman
Hellman & Friedman LLC (H&F) is an American private equity firm, founded in 1984 by Warren Hellman and Tully Friedman, that makes investments primarily through leveraged buyouts as well as growth capital investments. H&F has focused its efforts ...
proposed a takeover bid offering 506 pence per share.
In May 2009 the company announced that it would restructure its business to be incorporated in
Jersey
Jersey ( ; ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey, is an autonomous and self-governing island territory of the British Islands. Although as a British Crown Dependency it is not a sovereign state, it has its own distinguishing civil and gov ...
but tax resident in Switzerland.
The discontinued domain Informaworld provided subscribers with more than half a million journal articles and 13,000 e-books from all its imprints. In June 2011 the journals and e-books transferred to a new website, Taylor & Francis Online. Abstracting and indexing databases and bibliographic databases were to move from Informaworld to Taylor & Francis Online at a later date.
In July 2013, the company announced that Peter Rigby would retire at the end of 2013 to be replaced as CEO by Stephen Carter. Also in 2013, Informa acquired the Canadian company Hobby Star Marketing, who ran the
Fan Expo Canada
Fan Expo Canada is an annual speculative fiction fan convention held in Toronto, Ontario. It was founded as the Canadian National Comic Book Expo in 1995Toronto Comicon
comic book convention
A comic book convention or comic con is a fan convention emphasizing comic books and comic book culture, in which comic book Fan (person), fans gather to meet creators, experts, and each other. Commonly, comic conventions are multi-day events h ...
s. Informa has since acquired other conventions and placed them under the auspices of their Fan Expo HQ brand, including
Dallas Comic Con
Fan Expo Dallas, previously known as Dallas Comic Con (or DCC for short), is a three-day speculative fiction, (including comic books and Video game, gaming) fan convention held annually in the Dallas, Texas area. Larger in scale than the Dallas Fa ...
and
MegaCon
MegaCon, short for Mega Convention, is a large speculative fiction convention that caters to the comic book, sci-fi, anime, fantasy literature, fantasy, Tabletop role-playing game, RPG, and Video game, gaming communities, often occurring in sprin ...
.
In December 2013, Informa acquired the assets of Elsevier Business Intelligence (EBI) from
Reed Elsevier
RELX plc (pronounced "Rel-ex") is a British multinational information and analytics company headquartered in London, England. Its businesses provide scientific, technical and medical information and analytics; legal information and analytics; ...
. The EBI business unit includes such publications as The Pink Sheet, The Gray Sheet, IN VIVO, Start-Up, and the Strategic Transactions database along with a series of notable conferences. The EBI assets combined with Scrip, Datamonitor and several other publications formed the newly created Pharma Intelligence division of Informa Business Information.
In January 2014, Carter became CEO of Informa plc. In September 2017, Informa announced that it would be acquiring Dove Medical Press.
In January 2018, Informa announced its intent to acquire
UBM plc
UBM plc was a British business-to-business (B2B) events organiser headquartered in London, England, before its acquisition by Informa in 2018. It had a long history as a multinational media company. Its main focus was on B2B events, but its p ...
as part of its strategy to expand in North America and Asia. The transaction was completed in June 2018.
In 2019, Informa sold the former UBM Life Sciences to MJH Associates. Later in 2019, Informa traded it Agriculture Intelligence unit to
IHS Markit
Accuris is an information services provider.
History IHS
Information Handling Services (IHS) "was founded in 1959 as Information Handling Services to provide information for aerospace engineers through microfilm databases".
It subsequently gre ...
in exchange for most of IHS Markit's Technology, Media and Telecoms division. Also in 2019, Informa sold the former Penton design & engineering, manufacturing, energy, buildings, and commercial vehicle divisions, and the former UBM Automotive, to Endeavor Business Media.
In February 2020, Informa launched Omdia by consolidating its portfolio of market analyst companies, Ovum Ltd, Heavy Reading, Tractica, and the majority of
IHS Markit
Accuris is an information services provider.
History IHS
Information Handling Services (IHS) "was founded in 1959 as Information Handling Services to provide information for aerospace engineers through microfilm databases".
It subsequently gre ...
's technology, media and telecommunications research business, into a unified brand. The combined research offering includes more than 400 analysts and consultants covering 150 technology markets. Collectively, Omdia issues over 3,000 research reports annually.
In February 2022, Informa sold its Informa Pharma Intelligence unit to investment fund,
Warburg Pincus
Warburg Pincus LLC is a global private equity firm, headquartered in New York City, with offices in the United States, Europe, Brazil, China, Southeast Asia and India. Warburg has been a private equity investor since 1966. As of April 2024 the f ...
for $2.6 billion.
It also sold ''
Lloyd's List
''Lloyd's List'' is one of the world's oldest continuously running journals, having provided weekly shipping news in London as early as 1734. It was published daily until 2013 (when the final print issue, number 60,850, was published), and i ...
'' and EPFR to
Montagu Private Equity
Montagu is a mid-market private equity firm. The primary investment focus of Montagu is on management buyouts of performing businesses with enterprise values typically ranging from €200 million to €1 billion. History
The firm was founded in 19 ...
in 2022.
In March 2023, in a cash and shares deal, Informa acquired the Irish Tarsus Group from
Charterhouse Capital Partners
Charterhouse Capital Partners is a London based private equity investment firm focused on investing in European mid-market companies valued between €200m and €1.5bn. The company targets investments across the services, healthcare, specialis ...
for a reported GBP 790m.
In January 2024, Informa announced that it would merge the digital business of Informa Tech with TechTarget. The resulting company would keep the TechTarget name with Informa holding 57% stake and the existing TechTarget shareholders holding 43% stake in the merged TechTarget. The merger was completed with the business became
Informa TechTarget
TechTarget, Inc. (doing business as Informa TechTarget) is an American company that offers data-driven marketing services to business-to-business technology vendors.
TechTarget, Inc. was founded in 1999; it is headquartered in Newton, Massachuse ...
in December 2024.
In June 2024, Informa closed two UK-based titles: Digital TV Europe and Television Business International.
In July 2024, the company reached a deal to acquire media and events company
Ascential
Ascential (formerly EMAP) was a British-headquartered global company, specialising in events, intelligence and advisory services for the marketing and financial technology industries. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange until it was acq ...
for approximately £1.2 billion. The transaction was completed in October 2024.
Operations
Informa is organized into five operating divisions: Informa Connect, Informa Festivals, Informa Markets,
Informa TechTarget
TechTarget, Inc. (doing business as Informa TechTarget) is an American company that offers data-driven marketing services to business-to-business technology vendors.
TechTarget, Inc. was founded in 1999; it is headquartered in Newton, Massachuse ...
, and
Taylor & Francis
Taylor & Francis Group is an international company originating in the United Kingdom that publishes books and academic journals. Its parts include Taylor & Francis, CRC Press, Routledge, F1000 (publisher), F1000 Research and Dovepress. It i ...
. The company also has a Global Support division.
In June 2021,
John Rishton
John Frederick Rishton (born 21 February 1958) is a British business executive who currently sits as the Chair of Serco and Informa. He was previously the CEO of Rolls-Royce from March 2011 to July 2015.
Biography
Rishton was born on 21 Februar ...
Fan Expo
FAN EXPO is a group of fan conventions operated by FAN EXPO HQ, a unit of the Informa Connect division of Informa plc and the world's largest comic con producer. Most of its events are run under the FAN EXPO brand, which stems from its namesake, ...
*
Calgary Comic and Entertainment Expo
Calgary Expo, known in full as the Calgary Comic and Entertainment Expo, is an annual fan convention held at Stampede Park in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
Originally taking place in the BMO Centre, the show began in 2005 as a comic book conventio ...
Fan Expo Canada
Fan Expo Canada is an annual speculative fiction fan convention held in Toronto, Ontario. It was founded as the Canadian National Comic Book Expo in 1995Toronto Comicon
* Fan Expo Chicago
* Fan Expo Dallas
* Fan Expo Denver
*Fan Expo Vancouver
*
MegaCon
MegaCon, short for Mega Convention, is a large speculative fiction convention that caters to the comic book, sci-fi, anime, fantasy literature, fantasy, Tabletop role-playing game, RPG, and Video game, gaming communities, often occurring in sprin ...
Nation's Restaurant News
''Nation's Restaurant News'' (''NRN'') is an American trade publication, founded in 1967. NRN covers the foodservice industry, including restaurant
A restaurant is an establishment that prepares and serves food and drinks to customers. Me ...
*
VidCon
VidCon is an annual convention for influencers, fans, executives, and online brands. The event primarily features prominent video stars from across the internet. It was founded by veteran YouTube creators John and Hank Green ( Vlogbrothers), a ...
Informa Festivals
*
Black Hat Briefings
Black Hat Briefings (commonly referred to as Black Hat) is a computer security conference that provides security consulting, training, and briefings to hackers, corporations, and government agencies around the world. Black Hat brings together ...
*
Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity
The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity (formerly the International Advertising Festival) is a global event for those working in creative communications, advertising, and related fields. It is considered the largest gathering of the ...
*
Game Developers Conference
The Game Developers Conference (GDC) is an annual conference for video game developers. The event includes an expo, networking events, and awards shows like the Game Developers Choice Award for Game of the Year, Game Developers Choice Awards and ...
Dubai Airshow
The Dubai Airshow () is a biennial air show held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates under the patronage of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, in cooperation with Dubai Civil Aviation ...
Computer Weekly
''Computer Weekly'' is a digital magazine and website for IT professionals in the United Kingdom owned by Informa TechTarget. It was formerly published as a weekly print magazine by Reed Business Information for over 50 years. Topics covered wit ...
Industry Dive
Industry Dive is an online business to business, business-to-business news organization with an estimated 13 million readers across more than 25 industries, including banking and waste management. Since 2022, it has been owned by Informa plc, whic ...
*
InformationWeek
''InformationWeek'' is a digital magazine which conducts corresponding face-to-face events, virtual events, and research. It is headquartered in San Francisco, California
California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United State ...
MicroScope
A microscope () is a laboratory equipment, laboratory instrument used to examine objects that are too small to be seen by the naked eye. Microscopy is the science of investigating small objects and structures using a microscope. Microscopic ...
*
Ward's
Ward's is an American organization that has covered the automotive industry for over a century.
The organization is responsible for several publications including, '' Ward's AutoWorld'', and '' Ward's Dealer Business''. Ward's also publish the ...
Taylor & Francis
*
CRC Press
The CRC Press, LLC is an American publishing group that specializes in producing technical books. Many of their books relate to engineering, science and mathematics. Their scope also includes books on business, forensics and information technol ...
*
Dove Medical Press
Dove Medical Press is an academic publisher of open-access peer-reviewed scientific and medical journals, with offices in Macclesfield, London (United Kingdom); Princeton, New Jersey (United States); and Auckland (New Zealand). In September 2017, ...
*
Routledge
Routledge ( ) is a British multinational corporation, multinational publisher. It was founded in 1836 by George Routledge, and specialises in providing academic books, academic journals, journals and online resources in the fields of the humanit ...