Informa has agreed to buy Clarion Events, the company behind the ICE gaming expo and the iGB Affiliate conference, from Blackstone in a deal that values Clarion at £2.24bn. The Clarion Events transaction was announced on 6 October and is expected to close towards the end of the fourth quarter of 2026, subject to regulatory approvals.
For the iGaming sector, the deal hands ownership of its two most prominent trade events to a FTSE 100 group with global exhibition scale, at a moment when operators and suppliers are already navigating tighter margins and shifting regulation across multiple markets.
What happened
Global events company Informa has added several more expos to its already-substantial portfolio by buying Clarion, the company behind ICE, with the transaction valuing Clarion at a substantial £2.24bn, based on expected EBITDA
. The valuation represents a multiple of 11.1 times Clarion’s expected 2027 earnings, a figure that falls closer to roughly nine times once identified cost synergies are factored in.
The acquisition is being funded through a mix of committed acquisition financing and a share placing of around £940m, equivalent to roughly 9% of Informa’s issued share capital. Clarion is being sold by Blackstone, which had owned the business since buying it for a far smaller sum nearly a decade earlier.
Informa expects to complete the deal towards the end of Q4 2026, subject to the usual regulatory approvals, meaning ICE will be under Informa management by the time its 2027 edition takes place in Barcelona between 18-20 January
.
The Clarion Events portfolio being absorbed extends well beyond gaming. Alongside ICE and iGB, it includes DSEI in defence and security, IFA Berlin in electronics, Distributech in energy transition and ITC Vegas in technology, giving Informa immediate scale in sectors where it previously had limited presence. Clarion’s chief executive, Lisa Hannant, is expected to stay in her role and join Informa’s executive leadership team once the deal completes.
Why it matters
ICE and iGB Affiliate sit at the centre of how the industry does business offline: licensing conversations, supplier partnerships and affiliate deal-making happen on their show floors as much as in boardrooms. New ownership of these events by a listed group with far greater financial and data resources could change how they are run, priced and expanded in future editions.
For affiliates specifically, iGB Affiliate’s inclusion in the Clarion Events sale is notable. The event functions as a key meeting point for performance marketers, operators and compliance teams to negotiate partnerships that drive player acquisition. Informa has signalled that gaming is one of three strategic growth categories behind the purchase, suggesting continued, rather than reduced, investment in these gatherings.
Suppliers and operators exhibiting at ICE or attending iGB Affiliate are unlikely to see immediate change. Informa has indicated its priority through the transition is operational continuity, with existing 2027 show plans expected to proceed as scheduled.
The bigger picture
The Clarion Events deal lands alongside Informa’s announcement that it will separate its academic publishing arm, Taylor & Francis, as it sharpens its focus on business-to-business live events. Combined, Informa’s B2B events division is projected to generate more than £4.2bn in annual revenue across roughly 1,000 specialist brands spanning over 40 market categories and more than 30 countries once the acquisition completes.
It also marks one of the largest deals in exhibition industry history, ranking behind only Informa’s own $5.2bn acquisition of UBM in 2018 among comparable transactions. That scale could draw closer regulatory scrutiny given the increasing concentration of ownership across major B2B exhibition organisers.
The acquisition follows a period of consolidation and ownership churn across the exhibitions sector, with private equity firms repeatedly buying and selling major trade show portfolios. Clarion itself had been held by Blackstone since 2017, a period spanning the pandemic-era shutdown of live events and their subsequent recovery.
For more on how deal activity and corporate restructuring are reshaping the sector, see our industry news section.
Sources
- SBC News – Informa buys ICE owner Clarion in £2.24bn deal
- iGaming Business – Clarion Events acquired by Informa in £2.24 billion deal
- NEXT.io – ICE organiser Clarion sold to rival Informa Group for £2.24bn
- Trade Show Executive – Informa to Acquire Clarion Events for $2.97 Billion
- Skift Meetings – Informa’s $3 Billion Clarion Deal Set to Reshape Events Industry
- TSNN – Informa to Acquire Clarion Events for $2.96 Billion
- SiGMA News – Informa to acquire Clarion Events, owner of ICE and iGB
- Gaming.net – Informa to Acquire ICE Owner Clarion Events From Blackstone
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