The announcement came alongside Informa’s £2.24 billion acquisition of Clarion, which will add more than 100 B2B event brands. Informa is expanding aggressively in live events while preparing to move its academic publishing operation outside the group.
Taylor & Francis is approaching $1 billion of revenue
Taylor & Francis is approaching $1 billion in annual revenue and is growing underlying revenue at about 4%, according to Informa. The business publishes more than 2,700 peer-reviewed journals, more than 170,000 articles annually and more than 185,000 specialist reference titles.
The publisher joined Informa in 2004. Since then, Informa says Taylor & Francis revenue has increased roughly fourfold, annual article output nearly fivefold and the number of specialist reference titles about fivefold. Underlying revenue growth has increased from less than 2% to about 4%.
The transaction structure is still open
Informa has announced an intention to separate Taylor & Francis without announcing spinoff mechanics. There is no distribution ratio, record date, ticker, listing venue or stated tax treatment, and the company has not said that current Informa shareholders will necessarily receive Taylor & Francis shares.
The structure will determine where the value goes. A shareholder distribution would leave Informa investors owning both companies. A sale would leave cash or other consideration at Informa. Another listing or transaction structure could produce different ownership and balance-sheet outcomes. Informa has given investors a March 2027 decision point, not a distribution timetable.
Clarion increases Informa’s exposure to live events
Informa is acquiring Clarion from Blackstone for an enterprise value of £2.24 billion. Clarion is expected to generate more than £575 million of revenue in 2027 with adjusted operating margins above 30%, and brings brands including IFA Berlin, DSEI, ICE and Distributech.
After adding Clarion, Informa expects its B2B Live Events operations to generate more than £4.2 billion, or $5.7 billion, of annual revenue across roughly 1,000 specialist brands. The company expects the combined events business to produce underlying revenue growth above 7%.
Informa plans to fund the Clarion acquisition with committed acquisition financing and the net proceeds of an approximately £940 million equity placement and retail offer. It expects pro forma net debt to EBITDA to remain below 3x at year-end 2026 and fall below 2.5x by year-end 2027. The chosen Taylor & Francis separation route will also affect Informa’s capital structure. A sale, for example, could produce cash proceeds for the parent, while a shareholder distribution would separate the business without the same cash inflow.
March 2027 is the next scheduled update
Informa says it will report the outcome of the Taylor & Francis review alongside its 2026 full-year results in March 2027. Until then, the missing terms are the transaction structure, shareholder treatment, standalone capitalization, listing details and timing.
Taylor & Francis is an announced separation without a scheduled distribution. Our Upcoming Spinoffs page tracks transactions as their shareholder terms and timing become clearer; the March update should determine whether Informa is pursuing a conventional shareholder spinoff or another form of separation.