Informa to Acquire Clarion, Owner of iGaming Event ICE, from Blackstone in a £2.24bn B2B Live Events Deal
Informa has announced plans to acquire Clarion, the UK-based owner of more than 100 B2B Live Event brands, from Blackstone in a combination with an enterprise value of £2.24bn. The announcement was made on 6 October 2026 and forms part of a wider strategy update in which Informa also launched a formal separation review process for its academic business, Taylor & Francis, with final outcomes to be reported in March 2027.
For the gaming sector, the detail that matters is in Clarion’s portfolio. Alongside brands in electronics, defence and energy, Clarion owns ICE in Barcelona and IGB, and Informa names Gaming as one of three strategic growth categories it gains immediate scale in through the deal. In other words, the company that runs iGaming’s flagship annual event is changing hands.
What Informa is buying in the Clarion acquisition
Clarion is a B2B Live Events business established in 1947 and headquartered in the UK. It owns and operates more than 100 specialist B2B brands, with Informa stating that its ten largest category franchises account for around two thirds of revenues. Clarion is being acquired from Blackstone, and Informa has valued the business at an enterprise value of £2.24bn, representing a multiple of 11.1x its 2027 expected EBITDA before synergies.
Where ICE and IGB fit into Informa’s gaming portfolio
ICE in Barcelona and IGB are named in Clarion’s gaming line-up, and Informa points to Gaming as one of three high-growth categories, alongside Electronics and Defence/Security, where the deal gives it scale entry. Informa describes ICE as a global leader in the category. That framing is the company’s own, but the underlying point for operators is straightforward: the industry’s largest annual gathering now has a new owner.
What the numbers say about Clarion’s gaming and events business
Informa expects Clarion to generate revenues of £575m+ in calendar year 2027 (supported by 10%± underlying growth on annual events plus £100m± incremental revenue from biennial events), with adjusted operating profit margins of 30%+. Across the combined group, Informa says B2B Live Events will generate revenues over £4.2bn/$5.7bn across around 1,000 specialist brands in more than 40 market categories and 30+ countries. The enlarged B2B Live Events business is described by Informa as a 7%+ underlying growth operator.
Stephen A. Carter, Group Chief Executive, Informa, said:
“The planned separation of Taylor & Francis coincides with further expansion in B2B through the £2.24bn acquisition of Clarion, the UK-based owner of more than 100 B2B Live Event brands.”
The caveat iGaming operators should note on timing
The deal is not done yet. Informa expects completion towards the end of Q4 2026, subject to customary regulatory clearances, so nothing changes at event level until that process concludes. The acquisition is being funded through dedicated acquisition financing and a c.£940m equity placing, and Informa has paused its current share buyback programme to redirect capital. Clarion’s current CEO, Lisa Hannant, will remain in her role and join the Informa Executive Leadership Team, which points to continuity in how the gaming events are run through the transition.
What Does This Mean for the B2B iGaming Events Market?
For the gaming industry, the significance is less about the balance sheet and more about who now sits behind its biggest event. ICE moving inside a listed group generating over $6bn in Group revenues brings Informa’s IIRIS first-party data infrastructure, non-endemic sponsorship capabilities, and international brand syndication network directly behind the gaming calendar. With Clarion’s existing leadership staying in place and the deal still subject to regulatory sign-off, the near-term picture is continuity rather than disruption. The real question for operators is what a parent of this size eventually does with a franchise like ICE.
Source: Informa PLC
