TechTarget Shareholders to Vote on Informa Tech Combination November 26
By: Christiana Sciaudone
TechTarget shareholders will vote on its combination with the digital businesses of Informa Tech on November 26 after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission completed its review of the company’s S-4 registration statement. Shareholders could reject the proposal if they think Informa isn’t paying enough for the shares or if there’s a better alternative.
“The powerful combination of complementary technology, expertise and data will create a leading global B2B growth accelerator delivering data-driven solutions to support customers from R&D to ROI,” TechTarget CEO Michael Cotoia said in a statement.
Sean Griffey, co-founder and chief executive officer of Industry Dive, said today he will be moving away from a day-to-day operating role at the company.
“Assuming shareholder approval and successful completion, I’ll step out of the operating role into a board seat of the combined TechTarget. This is a logical next step and a tremendous opportunity for both me personally and the business I love,” Griffey said on LinkedIn. “In the coming months, I’ll undoubtedly have more to say about the ID journey but I’m not done yet. It’s Q4 and there is still work to be done. More to come later.”
Informa said earlier this year it would fold its Informa Tech digital businesses, including Industry Dive, into a combined company and provide $350 million of cash in exchange for a 57% stake.
“We wanted to be the majority shareholder. We wanted it to be a controlled company in the jargon,” Stephen A. Carter, Informa’s Group Chief Executive, said on an earnings call at the time. “We wanted it to be a separate company, to be a pure-play, to be rooted in the American market, where the customers are, where the value is, where the valuation is. But we wanted to be the majority partner, but to have a governance that allowed that company to be the best it could be in its market whilst also being a firm part of the Informa Group.”
Carter said running b2b digital services as a pure play is the most efficient way of driving scale. After the deal closes, Informa will be comprised five divisions:
- Informa Markets, which is its transaction-led live and on-demand b2b events business with over 300 brands across 20 markets. It’s expected to generate $2.4 billion next year.
- Informa Connect, which is its content-led live and on-demand b2b events business. There are over 400 brands across six markets. It’s expected to generate $1 billion next year.
- Informa Festivals, which is 10+ brands, including the recently added Ascential assets (Cannes Lions & Money20/20). It’s expected to generate $500 million next year.
- Academic Markets, aka Taylor & Francis, which has a number of journals, publishing imprints, etc. and is expected to generate $900 million next year.
- Informa TechTarget, which is this new portfolio should the shareholders approve the deal.
A combined company this year would have generated estimated revenue of $500 million. Informa and TechTarget estimate that five years after this deal closes, the business will be generating $1 billion+ in revenue with stronger EBITDA margins and faster YoY revenue growth thanks to a strong funnel in the b2b marketing operation and an expansion of industries in which TechTarget will be able to operate in.
TechTarget said that its projected total addressable market will climb from 18,000 companies now to over 200,000 post-deal.
