Shareholders Give Go Ahead for $5.5 Billion Informa Buy of UBM

April 17, 2018

After a shareholder vote today in which 99 percent voted in favor of approval, Informa’s $5.5 billion valued deal to buy UBM was given the greenlight, creating the largest trade show company in the world.

“We are encouraged by the strong support from shareholders of both companies for this combination, which will create a leading, international B2B Information Services Group,” said Stephen A. Carter, Informa’s CEO.

Under the terms of the offer, UBM shareholders will receive 1.083 Informa shares for each UBM share and $2.33 in cash.

Carter in an earlier statement said that shareholders would see strong growth and continued value from the merger.

“We will seek to operate with speed and purpose through an Accelerated Integration Plan that unifies management, combines our businesses and adopts a focused approach to Industry Specialisation,” he added.

Carter said, “This will ensure the Enlarged Group enters 2019 as a single business, with positive growth momentum and well-placed to deliver at least £60 million ($84 million) of annual recurring operating synergies."

The offer will result in Informa Shareholders owning approximately 65.5 percent of the larger company and UBM Shareholders owning approximately 34.5 percent.

The larger company will employ around 11,000 colleagues (approximately 4,500 in the Americas, 2,500 in Asia, 500 in EMEA and 3,500 in the UK), and will be a leading exhibitions business in the key growth markets of China and the U.S., further accelerating the opportunities that both Informa and UBM have been pursuing, according to company officials.

Shows under the new, larger group umbrella span from World of Concrete to MAGIC Market Week to WasteExpo to the Game Developers Conference.

Patrick Martell, Informa’s CEO of business intelligence, will lead UBM through the integration process until end of 2018.

Martell will report to Informa CEO Stephen Carter, who will be CEO of the combined company.

Martell will work closely with Charlie McCurdy, CEO of Informa's Global Exhibitions Division, Andrew Mullins, CEO of Informa's Knowledge & Networking Division, and senior operating management from UBM to develop the combined company’s operating model and management structure.

Current Informa Chairman Derek Mapp will be chairman of the combined company, and UBM Chairman Greg Lock will become deputy chairman.

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