Here’s something to bring a wry smile to the anguished features of the CFO as he (or she) wades disbelievingly through the expenses claims for Cannes. British-based business intelligence and events giant Informa is paying a heady £1.2bn for Cannes Lions owner Ascential.
Ascential, originally spun out of UK publisher EMAP, last year offloaded digital commerce business Flywheel to Omnicom for $835m (£647m.) Informa, headed by former JWT UK boss Stephen Carter, is capitalised at £11.3bn.
Events are surging back to prominence post-pandemic with UK growth of 17.3% according to the IPA’s latest Bellwether Survey. Cannes Lions is the jewel in Ascential’s events crown with revenue of over £100m in 2023, rather more for this year’s Festival recently concluded.
