The takeover of UBM by Informa seems to have gone off as smoothly as one of the new group’s slick events or exhibitions.
Agreed with very little shouting in January last year as a £3.8 billion cash and shares deal, the smaller UBM has been fully absorbed into Informa and the enlarged group is now preparing to report along different divisional lines to take account of the changes.
Informa was formed in 1998 and has grown steadily through acquisitions, including of the Taylor & Francis academic publisher and the Datamonitor business information company. Having expanded from its publishing activities into events, exhibitions and data management, the combination with UBM created the biggest operator of its kind, with a portfolio that includes the Monaco Yacht Show