Informa offloads Pharma Intelligence to Warburg Pincus for £1.9bn as firm shifts focus
Informa has agreed to sell Pharma Intelligence to US private equity group Warburg Pincus for £1.9bn, as the UK firm looks to boost shareholder value.
Informa announced that it would be selling its intelligence division, which provides data on clinical trials, drug treatments and medical devices, two months ago. The plan is to return a portion of the proceeds to shareholders through a share buyback.
Pharma Intelligence division includes a portfolio of information businesses and publications including Lloyd’s List, the world’s longest-running business journal.
Informa also said it would retain about 15 per cent of the business after the deal closes.
On top of this, Informa confirmed that it expected 2021 earnings in line with forecasts, set at over £1.8bn for revenues and more than £375m for adjusted operating profit.
As a result, shares in the world’s largest exhibitions group rose more than six per cent following the announcement this morning, hitting its highest level since November 2020.
The focus for Informal will now be on academic publishing, through Taylor & Francis, and its trade show business, according to the Financial Times.
TMT leader and analytics firm Relx warned this morning it could not predict when its exhibitions business would return to normal.
The FTSE 100 rival saw net profits climb by 17 per cent to £1.69bn while underlying revenue jumped by seven per cent to £7.24bn, Relx revealed in full year results published this morning.
From Warburg Pincus’ perspective, Adarsh Sarma, co-head of Europe, said: “We intend to invest and significantly grow the business and its product offerings,” at said in a statement.